Lo-s-vers
by lilpulp
Summary: After the losers face pennywise they become very close. Particularly Richie And Eddie.
1. Chapter 1

The losers were all sitting in the clubhouse. They'd spent their whole summer going after that stupid fucking clown, so they did absolutely nothing fun. Unless you count almost being killed a few times "fun." They were all worn out and after a scare of everyone moving away. They'd all ended up staying in Derry. None of them were sure if it was really a good thing but at least they all stayed together. They almost lost each other earlier in the summer while going after the clown so they were glad it would not happen again. Richie cringed thinking about when they were apart. He remembered the arcade with Bowers. He remembered how he made fun of him, calling him a fag and gay. He knew it was true. At least a little true. He couldn't deny what it was like to have Eddie around him. He could not and would tell anyone he was gay.

"Hello? Earth to Richie?" Richie looked up to see everyone staring at him. "Sorry. Were you saying something? I was in deep thought about Eddies mom." Eddie glared at him. Richie winked at him. Eddie groaned. "W-we w-were talking about g-going to the q-quarry." Bill chimed in. Richie was obviously on board. He loved going there.

They all rode their bikes down to the quarry but Richie fell behind. He was too busy, lost in his own thoughts to go faster than everyone else to be an annoyance like always. He was annoying as hell but they all loved him, anyway. Stan noticed and started peddling a little faster. Dude are you okay? You haven't talked about Eddie's mom in almost a full 20 minutes." Stan joked. "What? Yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking about that stupid clown." Stanley gave him a knowing look and nodded."I think we're all a little traumatized by that thing." Stanley sympathized with Richie.

They all were suffering because of that stupid clown. Bill lost his brother, Bev lost her dad and now lives with her aunt, not that it was a bad thing, Ben seemed to have been cut open by various things, Eddie broke his arm and got in a huge fight with his mom because she lied about him being sick but that just ended up giving him more freedom because she couldn't control him anymore, Mike kept having nightmares about his parents which let me tell you, is hard on a person, Richie well he had to figure out how to deal with his sexuality along with whatever happened with Bowers and the clown.

The losers got to the quarry and stood at the end of the cliff they usually jump from. "Are we jumping today or sitting up here? I don't think Eds is supposed to get that wet." Richie said pointing at his cast. "Don't call me that asshole. But that was not incorrect. If it gets wet, it'll get moldy a-and I could get an infection an- " Richie put his hand over Eddies mouth. "We got the picture Eds." He scowled at Richie.

Beverly looked at them and raised her eyebrow at them. "Well, Eddie can stay up here I w-want to j-jump." Bill said. Everyone agreed and looked apologetically at Eddie. Richie shrugged. "I guess I'll stay up here with him while you guys come down and once you come up, I'll jump and someone can go with me." They all jumped and Richie and Eddie watched.

"I'm uh.. sorry about your arm and stuff. It must suck having to wear it all the time." Eddie looked at him in shock. "What?" "I don't know. That was probably the first time in months you said something and it wasn't about fucking my mom." They both burst into laughter.


	2. Chapter 2

Richie laid upside down off the edge of his bed. His glasses had fallen to the ground, but he didn't care to pick them up. School in two days and he was dreading it. Richie sighed. Was he ready? The whole clown experience fucked with his head. He didn't enjoy leaving his house now. Did the other losers notice?

Someone knocked on the door. "Come in!" Richie yelled back. Eddie walked into his room "Hey Eds." Eddie rolled his eyes. "So are you coming with us to the park or what?" Richie shrugged. "I don't know Eddie. I don't feel like it." Eddie looked confused. "But... You always go with us." He frowned. Richie didn't notice because his glasses were on the floor, but he could hear the disappointment in Eddie's voice. He sighed. "Fine. I'll go. Can you hand me my glasses?" Eddie handed the taller boys' glasses to him. He put them on and sat up. Blood rushed to his head. Richie sat there for a second trying to calm it down.

He looked at Eddie and observed his figure. He was small and thin. He wore that stupid fanny pack that his mother forced him to, even though she doesn't make him take pills anymore after a huge fight they had. He kept his inhaler because he has terrible anxiety, especially after the clown thing. Eddie had freckles all over his face and brown eyes. Richie shook his head at the thought.

"Are you okay? You're staring at me." Richie's face went red. "Oh yeah, I'm fine. I was just... thinking." Eddie rose his eyebrow with a questioning look. "Okay.. about what?" His eyes went wide. "I uh... w-was thinking a-about...mom. Ya know how she gets me." Eddie shot him a dirty look. "Fuck you, Richie." Richie laughed.

Richie put his shoes on the two boys met with the losers. Richie followed them on their bikes before finding himself at the city center with the rest of the losers. Memories of when Paul Bunyan statue tried to kill him filled his mind. He stopped his bike where he was while the others sat theirs near a tree. He stared at the statue remembering how the first time he saw the stupid clown was right after Bowers called him gay.

Stanley who noticed he hadn't joined with the rest of the gang walked over to Richie, who had a fearful look on his face. "Hey... Rich you all right?" Richie sharply turned his face to look at his best friend. "I..." He started talking but seemed to not be able to force any words out. Stan put his hand on Richie's shoulder to reassure him about anything he was thinking about. Ben, Bev, Eddie, Mike, and Bill were all waiting for them to come over. "It's the clown, isn't it? You know he's dead right?" Stanley said trying to remind him it should not scare him. Richie shrugged.

Richie and Stan made their way to the other friends. "I can't believe summer is over." Ben said. "That's because you spent your whole summer in the library. It's hard to keep track of time when you have your nose up a book." Bev joked. Ben blushed and shook his head. "W-well we spent a good h-half killing a C-Clown." They all looked at Bill. "Well it sucked. It took away our whole summer." Eddie shook his head. "Yeah well at least you guys don't have to spend the beginning of school with a cast that says loser on it." Richie looked at him. "How many germs do you think are under that thing?" Eddie went wide eyed. "Fuck you Richie. I never even thought of that until now." "You love me Eds." "Stop calling me that!" Everyone rolled their eyes at the two. "Just get m-married already. You f-fight like you are." Bill mocked the two. Richie started blushing and turned his face away, hoping no one saw. Bill gave him a weird look, but continued walking.


	3. Chapter 3

_Imma just go with they're in highschool because I don't really know what grade they're in and highschool just is better for the story. I'm just going to go with they're going into sophomore year._

Richie sat in class tapping his fingers against his desk. "God it's the first day and I already hate it"

"Mr. Tozier, have you any manners?" Richie shot his eyes up and looked at his teacher Mrs. Walker. "Uh..." He looked shocked. He didn't expect for anyone to notice. "I am trying to explain this class to everyone and you are already slacking off. It is the first day Richard." The class snickered. "Sorry." Richie mumbled.

At lunch Richie got to the losers table and dramatically threw his bag on the floor by where he sits. Bev looked at him. "What's with you Trashmouth?" "Mrs. Walker is a bitch!" The whole table burst into laughter. "Did poor Richie get yelled at?" Stanley joked. "She's not a bitch! She goes to the book club with my mom." Eddie remarked. "Your mom has time to do anything other than me?" "Shut up Richie! Stop talking about my mom!" Eddie yelped. Everyone at the table rolled their eyes at the two boys.

Usually after school, the losers would rush to get out of school before Henry Bowers, Patrick Hochstetter, and his other friends would find them. They don't have that problem anymore though. Patrick died, and they sent away Bowers for killing his father. The rest of the gang was no longer around anyone because the bad stigma.

"It's nice to not have to worry about getting my ass kicked by Bowers." Richie said while getting on his bike. "Tell me about it." Both Eddie and Ben said at the same time. They both chuckled.

Hearing Eddie laugh made Richie's heart skip a beat. "God dammit! I can't like him. The kid will hate me."

"Well! Cheerio good friends! This lad got loads of work to do. Who gives homework on the first day? Mrs. Walker! That's who. She is definitely a bitch." Richie kicked off on his bike down the street to his house to avoid them questioning the angry look on his face.

"So... w-what was t-that about?" Bill stuttered out. "I don't know. Mrs. Walker didn't even give out homework." Ben added in.

At home Richie ran inside. His mother called to him. "Richie! How was the first day of school?" He rolled his eyes before yelling, "It was great ma! No one there to kick my ass anymore!" it threw Maggie off at the last part. "What was that sweetie?" She called back. "Nothing mom!" He said before closing himself in his room for the night.

Richie threw his bag on the floor and turned on his stereo. He began listening to Def Leppard and threw himself on his bed.

He felt himself fill with frustration. Why did he have to like boys? Henry making fun of him constantly made it clear it wasn't good to be gay. He began to tear up. If Ed's knew how bad he wanted to kiss him, he would hate him forever. If the other losers knew that he liked boys they would avoid him probably thinking he wanted to kiss them. Thinking it made him cry harder.

Sometime after Beverly barged into his room. "Woah, are you crying?" Richie shot up. "What? Me? No. I never cry. That is not something Richie Tozier does. How may I help you Bev?" She raised an eyebrow. She heard the music he was listening to.

(Play the song at top)

"Wow Trashmouth. Crying and love songs?" Richie blushed. "I'm just havin' a bad day is all." He gave a small smile. Beverly gave him a sad smile. She sat next to him on his bed and laid her head on him. "We all have them sometimes Rich." They both knew what she was talking about. That stupid clown ruined everything.

Beverly was in a foster home for about a month after her father died. They ruled it self defence, as they had proof of abuse, but potentially going to jail was the least of her worries. After the story came out, everyone knew about what her father did to her. It got rid of the "slut" comments but everyone felt awkward and uncomfortable around her now. The losers didn't, they already knew about her father, but all of Derry looked at her differently.

No one knew what Richie was going through. He wouldn't tell them either.


	4. Chapter 4

Richie was sitting in his room listening to music. Did anyone really expect anything else from him? He spent basically all his free time doing only that. Richie was doing... the exact opposite of what you expected him to be doing. He was dancing. He loved to dance to his music. He could be as stupid and careless as he wanted and no one would tell him to stop. He could finally feel like himself with no worries.

The phone ringing rudely interrupted his dancing. He answered it, "Tozier residence." "Just the man I was looking for!" He heard Stanley from the other line. "Oh, Hey Stanley." "You ready?" It confused Richie. "Ready for...?" "The party Richie! The party!" "Uh... yeah... of course. The party..." Stanley sighed. "I'll be there in 10 minutes." He said before hanging up. Richie threw on one of his weird button up shirts that he never actually buttoned up and packed a backpack. He looked in the mirror and gave a small frown. Was he ugly? If he did hypothetically ever have a chance with Eddie would he reject him? His hair was all over the place and he wore the same type of shorts every day, regardless of the weather. He wore those button up shirts every single day. He thought it looked good. Was he the only one? Did his glasses make hi-

His thoughts were cut off by a loud knocking on his front door. He groaned and walked downstairs. He opened the door and Stanley immediately started screaming at him. "How could you forget the party!? We've been looking forward to it since July!"

Earlier that summer Beverly planned to have a party after school started and well, it's today. "Oh. It's Bev's party." "Duh! Now hurry up." Stanley grabbed Richie by the wrist and dragged him outside. They got on their bikes and rode over to her aunts' house.

When Richie walked in Ben, Eddie, Bill, Mike, and Beverly were sitting in a circle. "Hey guys." He said before joining them, sitting right next to Beverly. "Hey Richie." The losers all welcomed him in the circle and shortly after welcomed Stanley. "So... Did you bring it?" Eddie asked quietly looking at Richie. He smirked. "Yes Ed's, I brought condoms for your mom and I." Eddie threw a pillow at him. "Yes, Eddie I brought it." He said taking out his stereo and tapes. They all cheered as he set it up putting in his tape with all their favorite songs.

About two hours in Beverly, Bill, Ben, and partially Stan were drunk. Eddie was too scared to and Mike had to leave early in the morning. Richie's reason? He was a talker when he was drunk. He didn't trust himself not to say something he would regret. The three watched the other Losers dance and have a good time. When Richie's favorite dancing song came on, he knew he wouldn't be able to stop himself.

(Play I Wanna Dance With Somebody)

Richie got up and went to where the others were dancing. He was scared at first because the sober losers could see but he couldn't just not dance to this song. When it reached the best part, he just let loose and danced like no one could see him. He was jumping around and throwing his hands in the hair. He flipped his hair around letting it fall into his face and in front of his glasses. Richie couldn't see because he was going crazy but Eddie wasn't able to keep his eyes off of him. Stanley smiled. He was glad Richie finally seemed like he was happy for the first time in a while. Mike noticed Eddie gawking at Richie and shook his head. He could tell something was with those two but he couldn't pinpoint what.


	5. Chapter 5

The kids had been partying all night. Who knew kids had so much energy? They all were sitting on the couch, minus Richie and Eddie, who were on moved to the floor. They were watching some random horror movie. Richie had no idea what it was because he was too focused on the beating of his heart because he was so close to Eddie. It took everything in him to not grab Eddie's hand every time he jumped. He didn't want the smaller boy too scared, but he himself, was too scared to grab his hand. He didn't want his feelings to be too obvious.

"Who convinced me to watch this movie again? You'd think after the summer we had, we would have enough scares!" Eddie whined. "Just lean on Richie. I bet he wouldn't mind." Stanley said. Richie was glad it was dark, otherwise they'd have saw his face turn bright red. "I'd rather his mom but I guess he works." Richie joked, hoping to hide his embarrassment. Eddie rolled his eyes, but still got closer to him.

Richie's already fast beating heart got worse. It felt like it would burst right of his chest. He tried to relax but he couldn't. The love of his life was closer to him than ever and he was freaking the fuck out. Eddie moved and sat between Richie's legs, then leaned against him. Richie felt his face burn up. "Oh my god, oh my god oh my god." He thought to himself. This was actually happening. Eddie was basically cuddling him.

When the movie got too scary for Eddie, he grabbed Richie's hand and squeezed it until the part was over. Richie felt like he would die. There was no way Eddie didn't notice how fast his heart was beating or how badly his hands were sweating. He wanted so badly to wrap his arms around the boy.

Almost to the end of the movie Eddie seemed like he was about to cry. Richie hated it. He didn't want the kid to feel upset or ever cry. Hesitantly, he wrapped his arms around Eddie and pulled him closer to comfort him.

Eddie seemed to instantly calm down. That made Richie smile. He was glad he had that effect on him. "T-thanks Richie." Eddie mumbled. This caused both of them to start blushing but neither of them noticed the other.

At some point Richie must have fallen asleep because he woke up to Beverly and Stan shaking him awake to play truth or dare. He looked around the room and locked eyes with Eddie. Eddie looked away immediately and Richie started blushing. "You okay there bud?" Bill shouted from across the room. Richie nodded and joined the circle.

They played for a while, Richie ended up only picking dare, scared of what he would be asked if he chose truth. Basically, all the boys besides Eddie and Richie ended up kissing Bev. When it came time for Richie to be asked truth or dare Mike chimed in and said, "You can't pick dare this time." Everyone agreed with Mike, as they noticed he only picked dare. "I... Fine. I pick truth." Beverly smirked. "So Richie, do you like anyone." His face went bright red. He couldn't lie now, it was obvious that he did. He sighed before answering. "Yes, I like someone." Everyone looked shocked. "Who?!" All the losers said at once. Even Eddie was curious. "That wasn't part of my question. I'm not answering that." "Awe, why not?" Beverly asked, sounding disappointed. "I-it doesn't ma-matter. It isn't like ol' T-trashmouth has a c-chance with anyone." Bill joked. "Hilarious." Richie sarcastically responded.

"How about we play spin the bottle?" Beverly suggested. "You do realize you are the only girl here, right?" Ben said. "Oh, I know. Though, I doubt you would mind kissing me Benny." She teased. Everyone knew Ben and Bill had a huge crush on her. Those two were obviously down. Mike and Stanley also agreed. That just left Eddie and Richie.

"Well, are you guys gonna play?" Eddie hesitated. "I don't know... You guys could be sick or have something and my mo-" Ben cut him off. "Didn't you spend your whole life taking pills you didn't need because of her? Do you really care what she says?" "Y-yeah Eddie. P-play with us. I p-promise we aren't s-sick. Have f-fun for o-once." Eddie finally gave in and decided to play. That left Richie.

They all stared at him waiting for him to say something. "I don't know guys. Something about having to kiss a bunch of dudes is unsettling. I also wouldn't wanna cheat on Eddie's mom." They all laughed. "Come one Rich. It's not like any of us are gay. Right?" Mike said. "Easy for you to say." He thought to himself. "Yeah Richie! Come on. It'll be fun." Stanley said.

What if he has to kiss Eddie? Richie knew he would be way into it. They couldn't know he's gay. He didn't want to see what would happen if they did. God why did this have to happen to him? Did he do something so wrong that he had to be the gay one in Derry of all places?!

Mike got up and grabbed him. "If we all have to kiss a guy, you do too." And he forced Richie into the circle. Bev spun first and landed on Stanley. It was a quick awkward kiss. Neither of them saw each other like that and never would. Then it was Ben and Bill. They thought it was funny, so they went for it. Bill spun Beverly. They had a deep kiss. Richie was sure if they weren't all around it might have gotten heated. Mike spun Eddie, but it was a quick peck that you probably couldn't even consider a kiss. It was Stanly spun Bill. Their kiss was gentle and sweet. Had they both not been straight you could almost assume they might have been a couple themselves.

Eddie spun and... landed on Richie. Richie's eyes flew open. Eddie looked just as shocked. Actually, everyone seemed shocked. "I..." Richie couldn't even think of a mom joke to make. Just his luck. He knew this would happen. Eddie slowly crawled over to him. His heart started beating super fast for the 12th time that night. Eddie looked up at him and their locked eyes. Richie's breaths started to become short and desperate for air. Eddie got closer to him and started leaning in. "Holy fuck. He's about to fucking kiss me. Eddie Kasprak is about to fucking kiss me." Was all that was going through Richie's head. Eddie's lips finally touched his. It wasn't a quick kiss this time.

Richie was shocked. He completely expected him to pull away immediately. He was desperate to keep Eddie's lips on his so he instinctively put his hand on the back of Eddie's head to keep him from moving. Once they both finally realized what they were doing, they both snapped away quickly. Both of their faces were crimson red. Richie didn't want to look weird for what he did so he quickly said, "Wow. It reminds me of your mom, but you aren't nearly as good. Would you look at that! I've kissed all the Kasprak's possible." Eddie gave him a dirty look. "Shut up RIchie!"

Everyone was staring at the two. Richie had done way too much for it to be just for the game. Richie panicked. "Wow! Look at the time! I just remembered I um... have somewhere to be!" He jumped up, grabbed his bag, and bolted out the door.

Stanley jumped up and ran after him. Eddie stood there stunned. "Is it me or is he hiding something?" Beverly blurted out. They all looked at her and nodded.

Stanley found Richie quickly and ran after him. When he finally caught him he was crying. "Woah there Tozier. Are you okay?" Richie shook his head no. "That party sucked! Why did I have to kiss him!? Why did I like it so much?!" Richie screamed at his best friend. "Richie! Calm down!" Richie kept crying. "Richie... Are you...?" "Gay? In love with Kaspbrak? Of fucking course I am!" Stanley was shocked. He hugged his best friend. "It's okay, Rich. I accept you. I don't care." He reassured. "Yeah? What about the other losers?" He broke loose from his hug. "I don't know, but I won't tell them. You can trust me. Just come back to the party. Just say that you were just shocked and panicked." Richie nodded, and they both went back together.


	6. Chapter 6

It had been about 2 and a half weeks since the party incident. Eddie got his cast off, but he didn't find that out from Eddie himself, he learned it from Bill. Since the party, it was almost impossible to be around Eddie. Richie was waiting in the cafeteria waiting for the rest of the Losers. He hadn't even touched his lunch because he was too caught up in his own head. He came to when Bill put his tray down on the table.

Richie looked up. "What's up BIg Bill?" Bill rolled his eyes at the nickname. Richie gave almost everyone a nickname. "N-not much. M-math s-sucked." Richie shrugged. He never had issues in any class, he was a secret genius. After Bill came Ben. "Where's everyone else?" He asked. Bill and Richie shrugged. They sat for 5 minutes chatting amongst each other before the rest showed up.

Richie was waiting for Beverly to sit right next to him, she did every day. Stanely sat in front of him, Beverly next to him, Ben next to Bev, Stanley next to Bill, and Eddie on the farthest side, to avoid anyone's germs. That's how they sat every day, but today Eddie plopped down right next to Richie. This made Richie's face turn bright red.

"Sorry we're late. We were helping make posters." Beverly said. "F-for w-what?" Bil said, looking confused. "The fall dance!" Eddie said matter-of-factly. "There's a dance?" All the Losers looked at Richie like he was crazy. "You literally went last year dude." Stanley said, looking at Richie like he was stupid for forgetting something like that. "Remember, you tried hitting on Greta and she slapped you." Eddie said. Richie grimaced at the memory.

He didn't plan on hitting on her, or even going to the dance. Henry was the reason he did either. Henry was being... well he was being himself. He did his weekly calling Richie gay session, and he wanted to prove he wasn't. Even though he was. He went to the dance alone because he didn't want to tell any of his friends. Bill was there with Eddie and Stanley because Stanley had to and didn't want to be alone.

The process of him getting slapped and humiliated in front of basically the entire school went a little like, "Hey Greta." "What do you want Tozier." "You uh... look good." "What was that?" "You um... I like the dress." Greta crossed her arms and gave him a stare of death. He wasn't expecting what came next, which was her slapping the fuck out of him.

"Yeah, I'm not going again." Richie mumbled. The group started laughing. "Awe, come on Richie. We could all go together! As one large couple of Losers." Ben said innocently. Richie raised his eyebrow. "Sounds an awful lot like an orgy if you as me." Bill practically shot milk out of his nose laughing. "Beep beep Richie." Eddie scolded as everyone laughed at what he had just said.

"N-no but s-seriously, we s-should. It w-would be the f-first dance as T-the Losers we g-go to together." Bill added. Everyone but Richie seemed down. They all looked at him waiting for something to be said. "What? I said no!" Stanley smirked. "But Richie... Eddie will be there. He wants you to go. Don't you Eddie?" Eddie didn't catch on to what he was doing but Richie did, almost immediately. "Yeah, I want him to go. It's not the losers without him."

Stanley knew Richie couldn't say no to Eddie. Richie sighed. "Fine." Everyone cheered.

After school The Losers agreed to meet at the quarry. It was almost Halloween, so it was gonna start getting cold. They decided to go one more time before they froze to death before they even touched the water.

Richie hated taking the route to the quarry. He had to cross that stupid bridge. The kissing bridge. The very bridge Ben got almost gutted by Bowers. The very bridge that during the time in the summer they all had a huge fight, after Bill punched him in the face and Eddie broke his arm, Richie came to the bridge and carved R+E into the wood. He wondered if anyone had seen it.

The Losers all started to walk across the bridge when they all stopped to look at the carvings in the bridge. They did this every time, which made Richie highly regret carving into it. They hadn't done it in a while because school started. He knew none of them have looked since before he carved it which was sending him into a panic.

"Hey guys look!" Eddie exclaimed. And with just Richie's luck he was pointing directly at what he carved. "Looks fresher than the others." Mike said, walking up behind them. Richie could feel himself begin to sweat. "Wonder who R and E are." Stanley said. "Well, chaps I say it doesn't matter! March on! We have a destination." Richie said in one of his stupid accents he was terrible at doing. Richie took off running and Beverly followed. "What's with him?" Eddie asked. They all shrugged, except for Stanlely, who knew exactly what was up with him.


	7. Chapter 7

Halloween had finally rolled around. Richie was in his room getting ready for the rest of the Losers, who were coming to his house for the sleepover for once. He paced back and forth. Was his room clean enough? Eddie wouldn't like coming in if it wasn't. God, why did he care if Eddie liked it or not? "I'm not gay!" Richie thought to himself angrily. He picked up a sock that was on the floor and threw it in his hamper he was taking downstairs.

His mom walked in the room. "Those your dirty cloths hun?" He nodded, and she took them to take downstairs. "Stop worrying so much, sweetie. Your friends come round often don't they? It's nothing different." Maggie said. Richie gave her a small smile as she left the room. He looked at his room. It was spotless. His room has never been this clean. He hoped it was enough as he turned on his music.

(Take On Me)

He loved this song because how upbeat it sounded to him. He liked music that was happy as it calmed him down when he felt stressed. Being gay for him was a huge stress. Who the fuck would be gay in Derry? They would kill him faster than Bower's dad if anyone found out. The thought alone scared him. What if he wasn't gay? Maybe he was just stupid. Right? Maybe he wasn't actually gay. He knew that he was but he didn't want to be. Maybe he would grow out of it.

The other Losers eventually showed up, Stanley was first. "Wow, I didn't know Trashmouth Tozier could even clean something!" Richie rolled his eyes. "Nice one Stan the man. I didn't know you even had a sense of humor." The both laughed. "So, what made you clean the room this time?" Richie blushed. "What? Nothing! I can clean my room for no reason!" "Yeah. You CAN but you DON'T. Is it because of Eddi-" Stanley started but Eddie walked in. "What about me?" He questioned. "Nothing!" Richie and Stanley both shouted.

"Uh, okay. Did Richie clean? Can he even do that?" Richie looked at him. "Ha ha. Hilarious. Stan said the same thing Ed's."

All the Losers basically said the same thing too. They all sat in his room and watched a horror movie, requested by Richie. Eddie sat further away from him this time which made him feel slightly disappointed. During the movie Bill, who was sitting next to Beverly grabbed her hand. Richie seemed to be the only one who noticed it which sucked for him. He wished he could hold Eddies.

Ben was the next to notice, but he got jealous. He jumped up. "Come on, guys. It's Halloween! We should scare some kids or something." Richie was up for it, he was Trashmouth after all. Beverly enjoyed the idea which made Bill agree. Eddie, Mike, and Stanley were all unsure about the idea. Stanley didn't want trouble with his parents, Eddie had done nothing like it, and Mike, well... Derry was racist, he would likely not have a great time.

"C-come on g-guys. It w-would be f-fun." The three still didn't seem to like the idea. "Fine, come with us and you don't have to scare anyone." Richie said. The three reluctantly got up.

They spent most the night scaring children until they had to go back to Richie's place. Maggie and Went had gone to bed, but left pizza out for the 7. They scarfed it down, like you would expect teenagers to do. Back in Richie's room they set up their sleeping bags.

"Fuck." They all heard Eddie exclaim. "You okay there Ed's?" Richie remarked. "Fuck you Richie. I forgot my sleeping bag! The worst thing to forget! Do you know how many germs could be on your floor?!" Bill struggled to hold back laughter but failed. Mike was the next to laugh, then the rest of the Losers. "It's not funny!" Eddie screamed out with a voice crack, only causing them to laugh harder. "Finally hitting puberty Eddie Spaghetti?" Richie joked. "Don't call me that!" Richie ruffled his hair. "I don't exactly have a sleeping bag you could use. Mine's being washed. Sorry Eds." Eddie sighed in frustration.

"You could share my bed with me." Richie suggested without thinking. His face turned beet red right after saying it. "I mean... You could sleep on the left and I'll sleep on the right." Eddie looked distraught. "I don't think..." "Come on Eddie. It's not like you guys haven't laid in the same area before. You two are always on the hammock together." Eddie gave in.

"Fine, but if you touch me, I will cut off your balls. Have you ever even cleaned your sheets?" Richie rolled his eyes. "My mom washed them today Spaghetti man. Don't cha worry lad."

They talked for a bit about the upcoming dance before they all went to bed. Richie was having a terrible time sleeping, it was hard to sleep with the smaller boy next to him. Eddie insisted he wouldn't touch Richie, but he was right against his back. Richie drifted off to sleep, he wasn't sure for how long but at some point he was woken up by Eddie shaking him.

"Richie? Are you okay? You were crying in your sleep." Eddie said. Richie wiped his face and found there were tears. The nightmare he was having came flooding back into his memory. He was dreaming about the stupid clown after the incident at the arcade. That fucking statue almost killed him. "Uh, yeah. Bad dream." "Was it about the clown..?" Richie nodded. "I get that a lot too. It's okay. He's dead now." Eddie reassured.

When they went back to bed Richie felt the smaller boy grab his hand. Though he freaked out at first that his crush was holding his hand, he fell asleep peacefully for the first time in what felt like forever.


	8. Chapter 8

Sundays were always the worst for Richie. Who can have any fun on a Sunday? He called everyone he knew. Kind of. He called Stan and Bev, who were both busy. He did not want to call Eddie. He was scared he'd make a fool of himself. It's not like they haven't before but Richie's feelings for him were really getting worse lately. God. He was a 16-year-old boy, and he was crushing like he was 12.

He decided he could try the arcade; it gave him a bad feeling now, but he was really bored. He threw on his shoes and went to walk downstairs. He hit the last step and seemed to black out. The next thing he knew, he was dialing Eddie's number on the phone. He fully came to when he heard Eddie's voice. "Hello?" Richie heard from the phone. "Uh... H-hey Eddie." "Bill?" Eddie asked. "No! It's Richie!" He shouted back. "Oh. What do you want?" Richie paused, what did he want?

"Well, everyone is busy and I'm bored. We haven't hung out by ourselves for a while and I-" Eddie cut him off. "Who said I'm not busy?" "Oh. Sorry." Richie said sounding disappointed. "N-no I... I'm not I was just saying. I can be at your house in 10 minutes, unless you'd rather meet somewhere else?" Eddie sounded a little too excited to see Richie for his own liking. Eddie scowled at himself, hoping Richie didn't catch it. "My house works. See ya Eds." Richie said hanging up before Eddie could yell at him.

For some reason Eddie was panicking. Did he look good enough? "Wait, why do I care?" He thought to himself. He shook his head and left for Richie's house.

Richie ran upstairs and made sure he combed his hair. He then regretted it. He never does that Eddie would be suspicious. Richie shook his hair around hoping to mess it up again before Eddie got there. He paced back and forth in his room until he saw Eddie's bike down the street through his window. Richie ran downstairs so he could go outside and meet him.

Eddie stopped his bike in front of Richie. "So, what are we doin today ma' lady?" Richie said in one of his stupid accents, "I don't know. I thought you knew." He face palmed. "How about uh... the arcade?" Eddie suggested. Richie shook his head. "We could go to the clubhouse and read those comics." Eddie said. Richie liked that idea. Eddie always laid in the hammock with him. "I'll race ya." Richie jumped on his bike and they both took off.

Richie was first in, only because Eddie was too paranoid to go in first because of "germs." Eddie followed in and Richie was already in the hammock. Eddie gave him a dirty look and grabbed one of the comics. He looked at the hammock with Richie in it and suddenly he felt weird laying with him. He sighed and gave in. Eddie took off his shoes and laid in the hammock. He put his foot in Richie's face. They spent the next while just messing around and teasing each other.

Richie turned on the stereo they had in there when it seemed like it was getting too quiet.

(Play Heaven Is A Place On Earth.)

"I love this song!" Richie said getting out of the hammock. "What are you fucking doing?" Eddie said, annoyed that the boy had gotten up. He loved being close to him and he just ripped it away from him. "Dance with me Eds." Richie said. "Hell no!" "Hell yes!" Richie said grabbing his arm. He made sure it wasn't the one that he broke before because he didn't want to hurt him. "No!" Eddie cried. He gave no effort to stop Richie, so he pulled him to him and forced him to dance.

Eddie was laughing. He was actually having fun dancing with Richie. What a shocker. He was having a fun time with Trashmouth Tozier. They danced to a few songs. Knowing Me, Knowing You by ABBA came on and Richie couldn't help but put his arms around the smaller boy and be touchy during this song. Eddie didn't seem to mind, well, he didn't try pushing Richie off.

Richie spun Eddie around, but they both got dizzy. They ended up crashing into the wall, with Eddie against the wall and Richie accidentally pinning him there trying to catch his breath. They locked eye contact. No one said anything for a while. Both of their hearts were beating right out of their chest, and not because of the dancing. Richie tried saying something, but he failed to get words out.

Eddie started leaning forward into Richie to kiss him when the clubhouse door burst open. "Richie and... Eddie? W-" The two boys went wide eyed and Eddie pushed Richie off of him. "I-I had a spider in my hair! Richie was getting it out!" Eddie squeaked. The rest of the Losers looked at them like they both knew what they were walking into.

"Wow! Cheerio mates! I've gotta get to tea time!" Richie said bolting up the ladder and to his bike. He got on and sped home. He burst into his house and ran to his room. Richie slammed his door shut and leaned against the door. He felt tears begin to run down his face. They all saw them together like that. Did Eddie even like him? No way he was probably just going to slap him.

FUCK. They all knew he was gay now. They all saw how he was looking at Eddie. He sank to the floor sobbing. He was going to lose all his friends.

There was a knock on his door. "God dammit! This keeps fucking happening!" He thought to himself. "Go away!" He shouted.

"Richie! Open the door! Please..." He heard Eddie's voice. Fuck. "I... hold on!" Richie started wiping his face furiously trying to look like he hadn't been crying. He opened the door and Eddie stood there looking at him.

"I... I'm sorry for almost kissing you. I know you don't like boys and stuff uh... I don't either." Richie felt his heart shatter. "It's okay."


	9. Chapter 9

_Next chapter will probably be the dance or getting ready for it. Hope you're ready.. or shall I say.. reddie?_

The Losers were walking down the hall after class. They were tired after a long day of being forced to learn. "I hate this place," Richie complained. Eddie rolled his eyes. "If you hate it so much why don't you drop out." Stanley punched Eddie on the arm. "Don't give him any ideas!" Richie shook his head. "I couldn't, anyway! My mom would kill me."

When they got outside to their bikes they spotted one of Henry's old gang members. They all knew what happened every time they came in contact with one of those guys it didn't end well. "You figure we should hurry up?" Richie said to the rest of his friends. They all nodded and got on their bikes. "Guy! He's walking towards us!" Eddie screamed. They all hurried off before they got their asses kicked or something.

Later at the clubhouse, Richie was in the hammock with Eddie and the rest of The Losers were sitting on the floor. "S-so what d-do you th-think that was a-about?" Bill asked. "Well, it couldn't have been anything good," Beverly remarked. "What couldn't have been good?" Mike asked, climbing down the latter. "One of Bower's boys was trying to come up to us after school. We left before he had the chance," Ben answered.

"Well, stay clear of him," Mike said. "As if anyone would willingly go to any of them," Stanely said sarcastically. "I already broke my arm once, I don't think I want to try to be one of their punching bags again," Eddie added on.

"Remember when they broke my glasses?" Richie said sort of laughing. They all remembered. Richie was grounded for almost a month because he said he broke them so he wouldn't worry his mom. He had to sneak out almost every day, otherwise, he would be trapped in his room for the entire day.

Once it had gotten late Richie and Eddie were the only ones left in the clubhouse. The incident they had a few days ago had completely slipped their minds until now. They both looked at each other and accidentally locked eyes. "Eddie I..." Richie started but Eddie cut him off. "Look we already talked about it. It was an accident. I don't like boys and neither do you! It was just a heat of the moment kind of thing. I don't want to kiss anyone especially not you or another boy," Eddie said frantically. Richie nodded and got up. "See ya later," He said leaving Eddie all alone in the clubhouse.

Eddie was confused. Did he do something wrong? Was he too mean? Did Richie know he lied about all he said?

The next day at school all The Losers were eating lunch together, like always. "Thank God it's Friday," Richie said dramatically. "What are you even excited about? It's not like you ever do anything." Stanley said. Stanley knew Richie like the back of his hand, they were friends since kindergarten after all.

"I have plans," Richie said. "Oh yeah? Plans to do what?" Eddie asked. "Funny you should ask Eds, your mom and I have a very romantic date after school. You might want to ask if you can spend the night with Bill." This set Eddie off and they spent the next 5 minutes bickering.

It stopped when Bill shouted something. "G-guys! B-Bower's f-friend is c-coming over here!" They all looked over to see Victor walking over to their table. "Get ready to run," Beverly whispered. They all started to stand up when he shouted at them.

"Guys! Wait, please! I just want to talk," Victor said walking over to them. "What could you possibly want out of us?" Stanely snapped back. Victor understood their harshness. Henry had done some really fucked up things to them. And everyone else.

"I just wanted to say I'm sorry for... Bowers and me and everyone else I guess." The Losers were all shocked. Did he really just apologize. Vic wasn't really the worst of them, but he was still part of it.

Ben remembered when Henry was carving his name into his stomach Vic tried to stop him, but it happened too fast. Richie remembered how he had said nothing in the arcade that summer and the rest of The Losers remembered when he ditched the rock fight. None of Bower's gang did much to Bill because of Gorgie.

They all looked at each other. No one said anything until they all gave a look that they accept it. "W-we accept the a-apology, b-but we d-don't want to be f-f-friends," Bill managed to stutter out.

Vic nodded and was going to turn and leave but he said one more thing before leaving. "Richie? I'm sorry about the arcade thing." Richie turned bright red as Victor walked away. "What was he talking about?" Ben asked. They all turned to look at Richie.

The bell rang and Richie jumped out. "Oh well look at that! Gotta go!" He said before taking off.

"Is it me or has he been acting really weird since the whole pennywise thing?" Ben asked. They all nodded and went to class.


	10. Chapter 10

Richie was in his room having a mini panic attack. Why did they convince him to go to this stupid dance?! He said no the first time but of course, Stanley had to use the Eddie card. He hated taking showers and dressing up, but he couldn't just go to the dance looking like a rat.

Richie ran to the bathroom to take a shower. He made sure to wash his hair and brush his teeth. You never know what could happen, right? When Richie got out of the shower it completely slipped his mind to do something with his hair. He dried his body to get the suit on properly and left the bathroom. He ran back to his bedroom and got his suit out of the closet.

When he told his parents he was going Maggie, basically had a seizure. "You're going to the dance? We have to get you a suit!" "No! I hate suits. I can just go in what I already have!" Richie insisted. She refused and they went to the store the next day. He hated it. He hated every second of it. Why did he have to dress up? He didn't have a date, and it wasn't prom.

Richie scowled at the memory. He put the freshly ironed suit on. "Got this is itchy," He thought to himself. Sitting on his bed he put his head in his hands. Why couldn't he just stay home? "I don't wanna be there! I don't wanna make a fool out of myself in front of Eddie!" He thought to himself. He could feel tears form in his eyes and begin to fall down his cheeks.

He sat like that for a while, not noticing when Eddie walked into his bedroom. Eddie was, unfortunately, the one person without a ride, and Richie's mom offered to drive him too. He only noticed Eddie when he awkwardly coughed. Richie's head shot up. His hair was still wet, messy from his shower, his face tear-stained, and red from crying.

"Oh! Eddie! I was just..," Richie paused. What fucking excuse could he possibly use for this? He sighed. "I couldn't figure out my hair and... I got frustrated so..," Richie lied. Eddie looked shocked, but he believed it. "Stand up," Eddie ordered. Richie looked confused. "Why?" "So I can fix your hair!" Eddie shouted.

Richie got up and Eddie walked over to him. Eddie was smaller than him, but that didn't stop him from starting to mess with his hair. "Go get a comb please," Eddie said lightly. Richie nodded and left the room to grab one. What did he sign himself up for?

Going back into his room, Richie saw Eddie looking at some polaroid pictures of the two that were hung on his wall. This time Richie was the one to awkwardly cough to get Eddie's attention. Richie saw Eddie start blushing. This made his heart skip at least 12 beats. Eddie was just too fucking cute when he was blushing.

Eddie walked over and grabbed the comb out of his hand. He grabbed a towel and messed with Richie's hair to dry it a little more. He combed his hair and made it look a lot tamer. "There," Eddie said when he was done. "T-thanks Eds." "Stop calling me that."

By the time Richie got his shoes on it was time to leave already. Maggie walked upstairs and called for them. "Coming!" They both shouted. She squealed when she saw them. "Look at you boys!" Richie groaned. He hadn't even gotten to the dance yet and he was already being embarrassed. She took a picture of the boys before driving them to the school.

"Have fun you two!" She shouted out the window as they walked away. "Ya ready for this Rich?" Eddie asked as they made their way to the doors. Richie scoffed. "I'm ready for the worst Eds."

They had all been at the dance for a while and Richie hadn't danced with a single person. The Losers had all danced with each other, except for Richie. Instead, he sat in the very corner and didn't do anything. Richie had completely zoned out and was staring into the crowd. He already didn't want to be here, might as well not be mentally too.

He was forced to snap out of it when the rest of The Losers stood in front of him with their arms crossed. "So are you going to sit here the entire time? We came as a group! You have to dance with one of us," Beverly demanded. Everyone else nodded in agreement, except for Eddie. He was staring at some girl. She was a senior and way out of his league. "I volunteer Eddie," Stanley said pushing Eddie towards Richie.

"What? No way! Why not Beverly?!" Richie complained. "She's d-danced the entire t-time, s-she should s-sit down," Bill said. Bill only said that because he wanted her to like him, they all knew they have kissed before, she liked him but Bill wouldn't ask her out. "Yeah, and Eddie has danced the least," Ben threw in, trying to catch his breath.

Richie glared at Stanley. "Why can't you dance with me, Stan? Or Bill?" Stanley blushed. "Bill and I are dancing together right now." Richie sighed. "Fine. Whatever." He stood up and looked at Eddie.

"May I have this dance kind, sir?" Richie said and bowed. "You are so fucking dumb." They both walked to where Stan and Bill were. Richie was hesitant to dance with Eddie, knowing how Derry was with gay people. He looked around and noticed a lot of people were dancing with the same gender, mostly their friends, and it gave him some comfort.

Once they got to the dance floor the song switched.

(Play Bryce Adams- Heaven)

"Fuck sake!" Richie accidentally said out loud. Eddie looked concerned. "Are you okay?" He asked while giving Richie a weird look. Richie didn't say anything and just got in a position to dance with Eddie. They looked stupid being the only ones there not dancing already. Richie could feel his face burning. Why did it have to be a slow song, with Eddie of all people?! He was glad Henry wasn't there to make fun of him.

Halfway through the song, Eddie noticed Richie's face becoming redder as it went on. "Are you okay? Your face is like... really red. Are you sick? Do I need to get medicine?" Eddie said frantically. "I'm f-fine E-Eds," Richie reassured weakly. "Liar! What's wrong?!" Eddie demanded a little too loudly. Stan and Bill looked at them. "Is he okay? His face looks like the color of a cherry." Stan said.

"I said I'm fine!" Richie shouted. Bill grabbed Richie's arm and pulled him to the table they were sitting at earlier. Stan and Eddie followed them. "What's wrong with Richie?" Beverly asked. Everyone shrugged. "We were dancing and he just started turning bright red," Eddie said.

Richie's heart was beating faster than it had before. He felt like everyone had their eyes on him. He felt crowded and claustrophobic. It was like the walls of the gym were closing in on him.

"Richie are you okay? You've been acting really weird lately." Beverly asked, putting her hand on his shoulder. Richie couldn't help it. Tears started falling out of his eyes faster than he could stop them. He turned his back to everyone, he hated people seeing him cry. "Are y-you okay, R-Richie?" Bill asked worryingly.

Richie couldn't do it anymore. He'd been holding back his feelings all summer. He had been holding them in since they were 13.

"No! I'm not okay, Bill!" Richie shrieked. He turned to look at them again. "All fucking summer we chased that stupid clown and Bower's terrorized me the whole time! When Billy over here forced us to go down there the first time and punched me in the fucking face I had no one to hang out with! I had to go to the stupid arcade and Bowers accused me of being a fairy and hitting on his cousin! I don't want to be at a stupid dance and be forced to dance with boys!" Richie screamed at them.

A few people in the gym noticed and were watching Richie, but he didn't care. The Losers looked at him shocked. "Richie... you could have just said you didn't want to dance with a boy. We wouldn't be mad at it." Ben said. "Yeah... I would have understood Richie. I wouldn't wanna be mistaken for gay either," Eddie said trying to reassure him. Stanley looked at Eddie then at Richie.

Richie turned to Eddie. "Oh, I'm sure you wouldn't want to because you fucking aren't!" Richie said harshly. Eddie's eyes went wide. "Wait what? Are you..?" Richie started crying harder. "Yes, Eddie! I'm fucking gay!" He screamed. Eddie stepped back and a few more people in the gym looked at them. People started whispering. Richie flipped out and stormed out of the gym. The Losers stood there, shocked at what they had just heard. Stanley started to go take after Richie, but Eddie pushed him out of the way and ran after him.

Richie stood outside crying. He fucking hated himself. Everyone probably hated him now and the whole school is going to know. He would never be able to show his face here again. Thinking about all of this made him feel sick to his stomach. He leaned over a bush and threw up. Richie ruined everything for himself. He was going to lose all his friends and Eddie would never talk to him again.

He puked again and he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around and Eddie was standing there. He was heaving and trying to catch his breath. Richie turned like he was going to run and Eddie grabbed his wrist.

"You... aren't... going anywhere..," Eddie said between breaths. He reached into his pocket for his inhaler. He took it and Richie was forced to wait for him to be done.

"What the fuck was that?!" Eddie finally said. Richie didn't know what to say so he just shrugged, "Are you really?" Eddie asked quietly. Richie nodded, still crying. "How do you know?" Eddie asked, sounding suspiciously curious.

"You really want to know Eddie? There's a Spaghetti Man that I have been madly in love with since I was 13. He's small, he has brown eyes, cute freckles, and he has asthma. He's super fucking irritating but I like him anyway."

Eddie looked shocked. "It's me?" He asked quietly. Richie nodded, beginning to sob. He had only felt okay telling Stan, but now everyone knows, including the school. Richie fell to his knees. "I'm doomed Eds. Everything is over." Eddie looked at him. He got down closer to Riche and hugged him. "Richie I like-" He was cut off by the other Losers joining in on the hug. Richie wasn't aware at the time they had heard all he said to Eddie, but he'd find out tomorrow.

"We accept you, Richie," Beverly said into his ear. "So much for being ready for the worst," Eddie said with a small giggle making Richie roll his eyes.


	11. Chapter 11

It was 11 am. Richie, who had cried himself to sleep last night, was still sound asleep. He only woke up when the rest of the Losers barged in his room like they owned the place. "What the fuck?" Richie exclaimed. "Get up! We've been waiting for you all morning," Stanley said ripping the blanket off of him. Richie was only in his underwear, which was nothing new to any of them, but Eddie still looked away blushing.

Beverly threw clothes at him and Ben told him to hurry and get dressed. "M-Mike has literally been w-waiting for us for l-like... two hours," Bill said. Richie groaned and sat up. "Do I get no privacy?" He asked. They all shook their heads. Richie shot a dirty look and got dressed. He walked into the bathroom and after he brushed his teeth and used the toilet they all left.

The Losers met mike in the clubhouse. Richie was unaware of any plans, so he was outright confused. When Richie laid on the hammock as nothing had happened, they all stared at him. Richie shot them all a weird look. "So, anyone gonna tell me what's happening?"He asked. "W-well we w-wanted to t-talk about l-last night," Bill said. He was the only one who spoke up.

"What about last night?" Richie asked innocently. Mike looked confused. "Did something happen?" He asked worryingly. "Nope! In fact good fellow's, I shall be heading home!" Richie said, trying to avoid the situation. He jumped out of the hammock and quickly headed for the exit.

As he was on his way out Stanley grabbed his arm and pulled him back. "You can't hide everything anymore." Richie froze. What did they know? "Alrighty then. Hit me with what you wanna know chaps." Richie said with a sad smile.

"Well... let's start with the gay thing," Beverly said. "The what?" Mike said, shocked. Richie hung his head down. "You heard correctly. I, Richie Trashmouth Tozier, am gay." He looked up at them. "Any issues? I don't wanna be here talking about this anyway. Tell me you hate faggots and I will gladly leave," Richie said harshly. No one said anything. "What about you Spaghetti Man, you always make remarks that we aren't gay. Seems to me you don't like fairies." Eddies' eyes went wide. "W-what?! No! I said that stuff because you looked like you didn't like it!" Eddie squeaked out.

Richie felt less tense with that."Thank God. I was scared my Ed's would hate me," Richie said with a wink. "Stop calling me that!" Everyone rolled their eyes. Bill coughed. "That leads to our next topic..." Ben said quietly. Everyone for like, the third time that day, went silent. "W-we heard what you said to Eddie outside..." Beverly said. Richie almost choked on his own air. "You...what?" He asked angrily. "W-we didn't m-mean to R-Richie." Bill tried to explain.

"You guys eavesdropped on us? What the fuck?" He said starting to shake. "Richie we didn't mean to! You guys were out there for a while and we just wanted to check on you and we heard you say it!" Ben said, trying to defend the rest of the group. Richie felt like the whole room was caving in on him.

Richie fell backward, landing on his ass. Tears filled his eyes, but he tried to hide them. "Woah, are you okay?" Mike asked, confused about the entire thing. Richie started laughing hysterically. "You mean to tell me, not only is my friendship with Eddie probably fucked up because he knows but all of you also fucking know?!" Richie yelled out. "Well... Mike doesn't..." Eddie said.

Richie turned and shot him a dirty look. Eddie cowered. "So you all know that I'm not only gay, but also that I'm in love with him?!" Richie asked frantically. They all nodded. It felt like his whole world was falling apart all at once. He was going to lose Eddie because he was in love with him and everyone knew.

Tears began falling down Richie's face. He was screwed. Everyone at school heard him say he was gay too.

Memories of the arcade flooded his mind. He could see Bowers yelling at him again and the statue almost killing him. Richie couldn't breathe. He was having a panic attack.

"Is he okay...?" Eddie asked. He noticed Richie was pale, and breathing very hard. "Guys! He's having a panic attack!" Eddie ran toward him. He kneeled down by him. "Richie... Richie look at me." Richie looked up at him. "Good. Hey, breathe in through your nose, and out through your mouth." Richie listened. After a few minutes of this Richie calmed down. Eddie hugged him and Richie blushed.

"So, what the fuck is going on here?" Mike asked.

Richie sighed and told them everything, starting with the arcade.


	12. Chapter 12

The Losers all sat in Bills' oddly empty house. They all knew why it was empty, but they weren't gonna talk about it. Ever since Georgie died, his parents were rarely home. They probably didn't even know Bill had people over.

It was winter break, which they were all more than excited for. Mrs. Walker and Richie had a mutual hating for each other because Richie was a loudmouth and she hated it. If it weren't for him being a secret genius she'd have failed him. Richie lucked out because the dance marked Winter Break, so he could hold off facing any of his classmates for a while longer.

They were doing what they always did at a Losers Club sleepover, watching horror movies. It's been pretty awkward between Richie and Eddie but they were sitting right next to each other like always. Richie wanted to hold Eddie's hand but he stopped himself.

When the movie ended, they were at a roadblock. What exactly where they supposed to do now? They sat for five minutes before anyone had a suggestion. "We should go to the arcade," Ben suggested. They hadn't gone for a while and they had nothing to do. Everyone got up to put on their shoes, but Richie stayed seated. He hadn't gone much after the Bower's thing and the last time he went was after Bill fucking punched him.

He reluctantly got up. He didn't want to disappoint his friends. He got his shoes on and joined the rest of the Losers. They made their way to the arcade.

Stanley stayed behind the rest of the group with Richie. He knew that Richie was nervous, understandably. "You alright Rich?" He asked. Richie looked at him. "Always am, Stan the Man," He replied. Stan rolled his eyes. It was a blatant lie. "You didn't have to come you know." Richie nodded, but he didn't agree. "Of course I had to come, I can't be more of a disappointment than I already am." He thought to himself.

"I wanted ta, Staniel," Richie said in a southern accent, elbowing Stanley. Stanley was doubtful but accepted it anyway.

When they got there, Richie decided to go to the bathroom to prepare for whatever memories he was gonna face. He went to the sink to splash water in his face. He also paced back and forth for a few minutes before walking out.

As Richie was walking out with just his luck, he bumped into Henry's cousin. Richie gulped. "Well look who we have here." Richie took a step back. "Where do you think you're goin, fairy?" He grabbed Richie by the shirt. "You little faggots drove my cousin crazy, now look at him." He growled. "I didn't do anything! He was already crazy!" Richie said, immediately regretting it. Henry's cousin scowled.

Richie could see Eddie walking toward them. "Richie! What's going on?!" He shrieked. Richie internally sighed. He already knew what was coming next. The rest of the Losers appeared in the hall. "What's g-going on h-here?" Bill studdered. "W-what does it l-look like Billy?" Bowers' cousin said mocking him.

"I'm gonna teach this little faggot a lesson." Beverly ran toward them and for the second time, Richie internally sighed. He prepared himself for what was coming next. What came next was a face full of fist and a bloody nose. He let go of Richie, who collapsed on the floor holding his hand over his nose and ran.

Eddie was the first to run over to him. "Tis but a scratch Eds," Richie said. "Go get some toilet paper!" Eddie screamed at Bill who was the next to approach. They spent the next 15 minutes cleaning him up. Eddie was their best bet for helping him. They did the best they could.

"I think we need to take you home..." Eddie said. Richie shook his head. "If I go back there looking like this my mom would freak! Do you want me grounded for the rest of break?" Richie said. "Well, I think what Eddie was saying is-" Ben started but Stanley interrupted. "You look fucking terrible." This made them all laugh. "I'll be fine," Richie insisted. There was no fighting him, he would always win.

They all went back to Bill's house immediately. There was no need to stay there after what had happened. When they got into his room, Riche was the first to speak up. "Well, that sucked." They all turned to look at him. "What? Can I not joke about it, I was the one who got punched in the face!" Mike looked like he wanted to say something but he just shrugged.

They played Uno until 11 pm, then decided to go to bed. Richie laid there, restless. How the fuck was he supposed to sleep? All he could think about was how badly he hated himself for being gay. Once he was pretty sure everyone was asleep, he let himself start crying. Why did he have to be gay? He was probably the only gay person in Derry, and he was going to be terrorized for it. Pennywise could have been his favorite if he took him out so he didn't have to deal with it.

"Richie?" He heard someone whisper. He looked around to see Eddie looking at him. Richie wiped the tears off his face. "Uh yeah, what's up?" "Why are you... crying?" Eddie asked quietly. Richie shrugged, but the question made him cry harder. Eddie quickly got up and walked over to him. "I don't think you wanna talk about it but I'm here if you d-" Eddie was cut off by Richie grabbing his arm.

"Can you... lay with me. I-I don't want to be alone. I keep thinking about the arcade and school. I- please. I need you to stay." Richie was blushing like a madman and Eddie wasn't any better. Eddie didn't say a single word but he laid down next to Richie. Richie put the blanket over him and Eddie wrapped his arm around him.


	13. Chapter 13

It was Christmas day. Richie was eager to see his friends because they all, minus Stan, decided to get something for each other. They were doing secret Santa along with getting something for everyone else. Eddie thought that was stupid, why didn't they just do it a normal way? When he finally got the call from Bill saying to come over, Richie threw on his shoes and bolted for the door.

He was about to open it when someone grabbed his wrist. "I think you're forgetting something," His mom said holding his coat and a paper bag with the other Losers gifts. "Thanks, ma," He said grabbing them both. "Have fun sweetie. Make sure you're back before dinner and... bring that Bill boy with ya," She said planting a kiss on Richie's head. She knew, along with all of Derry, that Bill's parents weren't the greatest lately.

Richie nodded and ran out the door. He couldn't exactly carry a bag of gifts and ride his bike, so he had to walk. That would suck later when he had to walk back home but he'll live. As he walked down the streets to Bill's house, it started to snow. Richie smiled.

It brought back memories to elementary school. Richie, Stanley, Bill, and Eddie were at recess. The teacher didn't usually let them out when it snowed but since it was almost Christmas she let them. They all wanted to make snow angels but Eddie refused. His mom told him that snow was dirty and he would get sick.

Richie waited until the teacher wasn't looking and he shoved him down into the snow and plopped down next to him. Eddie looked like he was about to cry until Bill and Stan started laughing. Eddie started laughing too when they all fell to the floor and made snow angels.

Richie missed those days, the days when they weren't all screwed up because of a fucking clown. Bill lost his brother and parents, Eddie's mom didn't pay any mind to him after she realized she couldn't control him, Stanley seemed scared of everything, Bev lost her house she grew up with and her dad, Ben seemed to be starving himself in some way, Mike was still dealing with racism and his grandfather, and Richie... well he was Richie. He got beat up and outed himself on accident.

He was so lost in his thoughts he didn't realize he was at Bill's house. "When the fuck did I get here?" He thought. He shook his head and went in. "T-took you l-long enough," Bill said when Richie walked in. He rolled his eyes. "I had to walk." He put the bag down with the rest of them.

"So we gonna get this party started or what?" Beverly said. They all sat in a circle. They started with the secret Santa thing, and Richie wasn't paying attention at all. He was staring at Eddie, who was completely oblivious to it. He snapped back into it when he heard someone say his name. "Richie it's your turn!" Ben said. Richie saw Eddie handing him a gift. Huh. Eddie got him and Richie got him too.

He ripped open the gift to see a walkman. "Woah, Eds... You got me this!?" Eddie blushed. "Well... you like music and you didn't have one," He said awkwardly. "I love it!" Eddie rolled his eyes. "Yeah yeah. Just give your gift out." Richie grabbed a gift from next to him. His hand started shaking. For some reason, he was ungodly nervous to give him the present. What if he hated it?

He handed it to Eddie with his shaking hand. Eddie ripped it open and said nothing. Fuck. He hated it. He looked at Richie with tears in his eyes. "What'd he give you?" Mike asked. Eddie turned it for everyone to see.

It was a framed picture of all of them that Maggie had taken when they weren't paying attention. Richie was glad he liked it so much because he felt awkward liking it too. Eddie was dumbfounded. In the picture, Eddie was sitting next to Richie with his head on his shoulder.

"Wow I d-didn't know R-Richie could b-be sentimental," Bill joked. They all burst into laughter.


	14. Chapter 14

(I couldn't help it. I'm Reddie deprived. Giving people... somewhat of what they want. They still aren't gonna be together yet)

Richie sat in his room with the door locked. He didn't particularly want to be bothered today. He was having a mental breakdown about having to go to school soon knowing he'll have to face everyone. He was looking at himself in a mirror he had in his room. There was still a huge bruise around his nose from when he got punched.

He touched it lightly and flinched when it still hurt. He knew he should have expected it but he was always kinda dumb. His hair was shaggy and all over the place. His mom was gonna force him to cut it before school but he liked it like that.

Richie laid down on his bed. For once the boy was glad no one was around. He kind of missed Eddie but he wasn't going to go out of his way to fix it. He picked a random comic off his shelf and read it.

He got tired of it being so fucking quiet. He wished he had Eddie or Stan to come to bug him, but he didn't want to call them. Richie looked on his side table and saw the walkman Eddie got him. He felt a slight warmth on his face. He was blushing. Richie grabbed it and a random tape. He turned it to the first song.

(Play Bryan Adams- Heaven ;) )

Richie's eyes went wide. This was the song he and Eddie danced to. The blush he already had grown stronger. He was tempted to change it but he left it. Richie knew that he should stop before his feelings for Eddie grew more but he didn't care.

He didn't feel tired but he must have fallen asleep at some point because he woke up to a pounding on his door. Richie threw off the headphones onto his bed and opened the door. If God was real he was definitely listening to Richie's prayers. Eddie was the one who stood in his hall.

"Eddie!" Richie said excitedly hugging the smaller boy. "What the hell Richie?" Eddie said pushing him off. "You're my savior! I was so lonelyyyyy," Richie said dramatically. "Keep it up and I'll go back home." "So what brings you to my humble abode Eds?" Eddie shot him a dirty look. "No one else was home," Eddie said. Eddie had only gone to Bill's, he just wanted to see Richie.

"Just an afterthought? It hurts Eds it really does," Richie said holding a hand over his heart. Eddie knew he was kidding but he still felt bad. "Duh, why would you be my first thought?" Eddie joked back. "So, did you wanna go somewhere or what?" Richie asked walking toward his bed. "Um, I just wanna read comics or something," Eddie said following Richie into his room.

"Well, you're in luck because that's what I was already doing." Richie jumped on his bed as Eddie grabbed a comic. Eddie laid down next to Richie like always. Now that they were both aware of their feelings for one another, they both felt awkward. They both did their best to hide it which was failing miserably.

"Eddie?" Richie said turning his head to look at the other boy. "Yes?" He said looking away from his comic. "Are... you okay? It just seems like awkward or something," Richie said. Eddie studied Richie's face for a few seconds. There was a piece of hair falling in front of his eyes. "Yeah, I'm okay..." Eddie said reaching to move the hair from Richie's face.

Richie and Eddie started blushing when Eddie's hand reached his face and moved the hair. His hand lingered for a few seconds before he moved it back to his body. Richie shook his head. "Eds don't tempt me like that," Richie said quietly. Eddie looked confused. Richie regretted what he said. "I... just forget it. Pretend I didn't say anything." Richie went back to looking at his comic, but he couldn't read with the tears in his eyes.

Eddie noticed and forced Richie to look at him. A tear rolled down his cheek. "Richie, seriously what's wrong?" "I told you.. just forget it." Eddie reached for his face again. Richie grabbed his arm. "Stop that! You can't just keep touching me like that!" Eddie looked scared. "You can't just reach for my face like that and not expect me to want to kiss you!" Eddie blushed. He wanted to kiss him?

They both stayed silent and Richie was again regretting everything he said. "Then kiss me," Eddie said without thinking. Richie was shocked. Did Eddie just say to kiss him? "Well? I'm waiting." Richie grabbed Eddie and pulled him toward him. Richie crashed his lips down on Eddies desperately, like he was deprived of it.

Richie rolled on top of Eddie and kissed him like there was no tomorrow. Richie was out of breath but he didn't want to stop and Eddie wasn't doing anything to stop him, he was actually kissing back. He felt like his heart was going to explode.

They were like that for a few minutes until they heard someone talk. "You can't fake that sort of passion aye Richie?" Stanley said before bursting into laughter. Richie basically jumped off of Eddie. "I'm not gonna tell anyone. It's about time Richie kissed you anyway," Stanley joked. "Sorry, Ed's," Richie said grinning. "At least you're better than your mom," Richie added.

"Beep beep, Richie," Eddie said smacking Richie's arm.


	15. Chapter 15

The losers watched Richie basically lose his mind before school. They had all done everything they could to calm him down. Eddie had done the most but Richie refused his help. Stan knew that they liked each other and thought it was funny.

They hadn't even left Richie's house yet. "Richie! Get it together! We're all going to be late at this rate!" Ben said slightly annoyed. "Oh, I'm sorry Ben, am I wasting your time? What if I told the entire school about your crush on Bev!" Richie shouted. Ben turned bright red. Beverly knew but that didn't make it any less embarrassing.

"R-Richie c-calm down. T-they probably a-already f-f-forgot," Bill tried to reassure. Richie turned to look at him. "They most definitely did not! Who would forget that?! Who would forget the person Henry tormented for being gay, is actually gay?!" Everyone shut up."Yeah, exactly." 

Richie threw on his backpack and adjusted his not buttoned up button-up shirt. He stormed out of his house and the rest of the Losers followed him out. Richie got on his bike and sped off, not even waiting for his friends. Stanley shook his head and took off after him.

When everyone caught up with him he was stopped down the street from the school by where they hid their bikes. Eddie was first to go over to him. "Hey, Spaghetti. Remember when you freaked out about aids going around?" Richie asked not even looking at him. "Um, yeah why?" Richie turned around. "You aren't gonna be the only one now!" He said half-joking. Eddie heard the sadness in his voice.

Eddie hugged him. Richie's eyes went wide. Riche instinctively pushed him off. "Oh, sorry Eds," He whispered when he saw a look of confusion on his face. The rest of the Losers joined them and hid their bikes.

They made their way to the front doors and Richie could feel eyes following him. Stanley and Beverly were on either side of him, Bill was in front, and Ben and Eddie were behind him. It was like he had a personal group of bodyguards. When they all walked in they all heard whispers coming from everyone. Bill got pushed out of the way and it felt like everyone had been separated from Richie, and he was standing in the middle of the hall where everyone could see him.

(Play Mother Mother- Back in School)

Right, when he felt like he was going to have a panic attack, Victor appeared out of nowhere. He put his arm around Richie's shoulder. "We have a problem, everyone?" Victor called out. No one answered. "I'm 90% sure we weren't forced to come here today for everyone to stare at him," Victor said pointing at Richie with his thumb.

The entire school was scared of those who were part of Bower's gang at one point because of what happened. Everyone backed off. "Come on," Victor whispered to Richie. They started walking and Richie felt relieved. "Thanks..." Richie whispered. Victor nodded but didn't say anything else.

The entire day dragged on like that. People would start talking and Victor would appear out of thin air. Richie was glad he didn't have to deal with it himself. At lunch, Victor sat at the very end of their table watching in case someone tried something.

Richie had clearly already dealt with some shit, as his nose still had a slight bruise. Victor felt bad for the kid. No one wants to be outed like that. That's why he was so glad Henry and Patrick were gone.

When school was over Richie didn't even wait for his friends, he went home faster than a kid gets up for Christmas. He was glad his parents weren't home. Richie ran into his room and cried. God, why did this have to be so hard? Richie just wanted to be normal. Being gay wasn't normal.

Richie almost freaked out when Eddie walked into his room. Goddammit! He just wanted to be alone. "What, Eddie?" He asked when he saw him in the doorway. Eddie shook his head and walked over to his bed where he was sitting. Eddie wrapped his arms around him tightly, so he couldn't push him away this time.

"Don't cry on me. I don't want your germs on me, have you even washed your face ever?" Eddie asked. "Yes, after me and your mom-" Eddie smacked Richie on the side of the head, making them both laugh. Richie relaxed. Being in Eddie's arms felt natural like it was meant to be that way.

Richie felt sad, thinking Eddie would probably never like him in the way he did. The kiss was probably an accident, like the other kiss they shared. Richie started crying again but Eddie held him tighter.

"You're loveable Richie. So loveable. There's nothing wrong with being gay." Richie shrugged. "Richie I'm serious! It's fine that you're gay!" Eddie insisted. Richie shook his head. "Well... I... I think I'm gay. Does that make me bad too?" Richie put his head up from Eddie's shoulder. "Are you serious?" Eddie nodded.

"Richie... I... I think I like you too-" Eddie was once again cut off. Why does this always happen? The rest of the Losers walked into the room. "Great," Richie mumbled.


	16. Chapter 16

(I'm sorry lmao but you'll also forgive me so it's okay)

All Richie could see was darkness. He could hear voices and he followed them and saw 5 others he didn't recognize. He saw the fucking clown. It was then he lost control of his body. "Hey, fuckface! Wanna play truth or dare?! Well, here's the truth, you're a sloppy bitch! Yeah, that's right! Let's dance! Yippie ki-yay mother fucker-"

He picked up a rock to throw it but suddenly, he was seeing thousands of images of how his friends die. "What?" He thought to himself. What the fuck is this? He suddenly came to, an older version of Eddie stood over him. Eddie was shouting about how he had killed it when he was fucking impaled by the clown.

Richie was forced to help kill the clown before he could go to Eddie again.

"Eddie! Ed, we beat Pennywise, man. Eddie?" Richie said trying to get Eddie to wake up. "Richie... He's gone." Ben said. "It's nothing, he's just hurt, we have to get him out of here." Richie insisted. "He's hurt Ben." They tried getting him away from Eddie. "No, all right, we have to get him out of here, Bev." "Richie... He's dead." "We have to go, Richie. We have to go." Someone said. "Come on man. Let's go. We have to go, Richie. We have to go."

"Wait, guys. We can still help him! Guys, we can still help him!" Richie screamed. They started pulling him away. "No! Eddie, Eddie!" Richie screamed, the sound echo fading away.

Richie shot awake. There were tears running down his face. He looked down at his body and saw he was still a child. Tears were still running down his face. "W-what the fuck! What was that!?" He yelled. He remembered the lights he saw in the dream. Bev saw them. She said she saw them.

Richie jumped out of bed and threw on his shoes. He knew it was going to be freezing but he didn't care. He climbed out his window so he wouldn't get caught, and ran to Bev's house. He knew her window was either going to be opened or unlocked. He climbed the tree and he was glad to see her window was open and the light was on.

He climbed into her room, she wasn't in it so he waited for her. "What the fu-" Richie covered her mouth. "We need to talk," He said seriously, taking his hand off her mouth. Beverly closed her door so her aunt wouldn't hear them. They sat on her bed.

"I had a dream." Beverly looked at him. "You... came to my house at," She glanced at her clock, "2 am because you had a dream?" She asked sarcastically. Richie gave her a cold look. "I think... I think I saw what you saw in the lights." "You what?"

"Eddie! We were like 40 and fighting that stupid clown! It had Mike and called him a madman! I went to save him and he put me in the lights and... E-Eddie he tried to save me, but that clown! The clown st-" "Stabbed him. The clown impaled him." Richie nodded, tears starting to run down his face again.

"You didn't see the lights, did you? Why did you see this?" Richie shook his head. Bev was the only one who saw the lights. "I have nightmares about It almost every night, it all feels too real." Bev put her hand on his shoulder. "Maybe... if it's real... if we know about what happens to him we can stop it in the future," Beverly said.

"I hope so."

Richie climbed out of her window after talking more about what they saw in the lights. He started walking toward his house when he had a gut-wrenching feeling to go see Eddie. After what he had just seen, he wasn't taking any chances.

He turned and started running to Eddie's house. He tripped while running but he ignored it, got up, and started running again. When Richie reached his house he almost smashed his fingers trying to open the window. He climbed into Eddie's bedroom and fell onto the floor.

That woke up Eddie and he shot up from his bed. Richie heard Sonia down the hall and he quickly hid before either of them saw him. "Eddie bear are you okay?!" Sonia basically screamed. "Yes, mom..." He groaned. He got up and shut his door before his mom could say anything else.

Richie heard a defeated sigh and footsteps go back down the hall. Eddie walked to his bed and noticed the window was open. He groaned and went to close it. "Hey, Eds," Richie said as Eddie walked past him. Eddie was about to yelp before Richie grabbed him and pulled him into a tight hug,

"Thank God." Richie buried his face into Eddie's shoulder. "Um, nice to see you too?" Eddie said confused. Richie let go. "Sorry, I just... I just came from Beverly's house because I had a nightmare that wasn't really a nightmare because it was real and I needed to come to make sure you were okay because I was really worried," Richie said quickly. "Woah, calm down. Tell me what happened, but this time slow the fuck down." Richie sighed.

"I had a dream, we were all older and fighting that clown... You... you d-died and I got scared. I woke up crying and ran to Beverly's house because in the 'dream' I saw the lights she did. She told me she saw the same thing. I was gonna go home but..." Richie looked at Eddie. "I felt like I needed to come here." "I... died?" Richie nodded.

"Beverly says if the clown isn't dead and we have to fight it again maybe we can stop it." Eddie nodded. "I hope so..." He said, looking terrified. Richie hugged him again. This time Eddie hugged him back. Richie cried on his shoulder. Eddie hated it, not because of germs but because he hated Richie being sad or crying.

"It's okay Rich... It probably won't happen. The clown was probably fucking with your head or something. I'm alive. I'm okay," Eddie reassured. Richie gripped onto Eddie's shirt. When he saw all of the ways Eddie died, not a single one included them being together. He even ended up forgetting Richie was even gay. Hell, Richie forgot he was gay in those.

Did he and Eddie have any future together at all? Eddie didn't even like him. Even though Eddie had almost said it Richie didn't hear him either time. He still hated himself for being gay, he decided he wouldn't ever tell anyone. Not his parents, not anyone he meets in the future, or anyone at school who might ask.

If he and Eddie didn't have a chance, Richie decided he was gonna find a girl and date her. He would fake it until the day he died, which if he couldn't have Eddie, he hoped it was soon.

"Rich... Richie let go," Eddie said after a while. Richie blushed and let go. "Sorry. I'm sorry for... always hugging you and stuff. I know you don't like me and that's okay. I shouldn't do this stuff." Richie stepped back. "I-I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" Richie said and turned around. He made his way to the window to climb out.

Eddie was shocked. "What?" He accidentally said out loud. Richie turned around."Richard Tozier, are you stupid? Do you think I would let you in my room at this ungodly hour if I didn't feel the same? Would I let you kiss me and comfort you all the time if I didn't like you?" Richie was taken back.

"You... what?" Eddie rolled his eyes. He walked over to Richie. "Mind leaning down a little?" Richie gave him a weird look. Eddie sighed and put his arms around Richie's neck forcing him to lean over. Eddie pressed his lips to Richies. Richie smiled against his lips. He found it cute how Eddie was struggling to reach him.

Richie wrapped his arms around his waist and lifted Eddie up a little bit. When the kiss broke off Richie put Eddie down. Eddie turned on his light so Richie could safely climb out the window. Eddie saw Richie's knee. "Richie! Did you fucking hurt yourself?" Richie looked down at his knee. "Oh, yeah."

Eddie smacked Richie's arm. He grabbed his first aid kit and cleaned his knee. "Thanks, Eds." Richie walked to the window to leave. Eddie kissed him on the cheek on the way out.


	17. Chapter 17

The Losers were going around Derry being a public nuisance, like always. Richie and Eddie were fighting about whether you can get aids by sharing ice cream. "Eddie Spaghetti, I'm pretty sure you have to share like blood or something," Richie said licking Eddie's ice cream again. "Don't call me that! And how do you know? You aren't a doctor. You probably have aids!"

Richie gave him a look. "Oh, so you're making fun of who I like now? That's low Eds," He said raising an eyebrow. "What?! No!" Eddie shrieked, his face turning bright red. "You wound me Eds. I thought we were friends, now you're making fun of me for being gay," Richie dramatically said with his hand over his heart.

"Richie! That's not what I meant! I meant that you never fucking take a shower," Eddie insisted. "Oh Spaghetti man, I have to shower! Your mom wouldn't take me if I didn't." Richie winked at Eddie. "Ladies, ladies, you're both pretty now shut up," Stanley said. Everyone started laughing and Eddie took his ice cream out of Richie's hand.

"Richie, if you wanted vanilla so bad, why didn't you get it?" Beverly asked, licking her own cone. "I don't even like vanilla, I just like Eds," Richie said before ruffling Eddie's hair. "Beep fucking beep," Eddie said, totally getting Richie was flirting with him. Everyone else just saw it as Richie being himself.

"D-do you t-two ever s-stop fighting?" Bill asked laughing. "Nope!" Richie said putting his arm around Eddie's shoulders. "Eds here can't help himself." Stanley rolled his eyes.

They all entered the freezing cold clubhouse. "Okay, two questions. One, who's idea was it to get ice cream in the middle of winter, two who's idea was it to go into the clubhouse in the fucking middle of winter? What if we all get sick? Or die of hypothermia?" Eddie panicked.

"Richie chose the ice cream, Ben choose the clubhouse," Stanley said. "Well, it was a bad idea! I'm fucking cold!" Riche came up behind him and wrapped his arms around his waist. "You can cuddle me if you're cold Ed's," Richie said resting his chin on Eddie's head. "And that isn't happening." Eddie broke away from Richie's grasp.

Everyone was unaware of the kisses they had shared, except for Stan, who walked in on them, so to everyone else it was just Richie fucking around. Eddie was blushing and Richie saw. He smirked at what he did to the boy and went to his place in the hammock.

Eddie soon joined him and the rest of the Losers went to their typical spot. Bill was reading with Stan about birds and Ben and Bev were listening to music. Richie and Eddie picked out comics and "read" them.

They never really read, mostly just kicked each other. They were doing that like always when Eddie accidentally kicked him in the nose. "Ow!" Richie yelped cupping his nose. He could feel the blood running out of his nose.

"Richie! I'm so sorry!" Eddie said frantically. "Does anyone have an extra shirt or something?!" They all looked at each other. Richie got off the hammock and moved his hands away from his nose. The blood gushed out onto the floor while his nose continued to bleed.

Richie took off his coat to use the button-up shirt to cover his nose. Eddie felt terrible for giving him a bloody nose and now ruining his shirt. He looked like he was about to cry. "It's fine Eddie. It doesn't hurt." Richie smiled to try to reassure him. "We have to get him home!" Eddie cried pushing Richie to the exit. "I guess we'll see you guys later?" They all nodded.

When Maggie saw the two boys walk through the door she almost had a seizure. "My nose started bleeding when we were just walking. It must be something from the last nose injury," Richie lied. Eddie was shocked. Richie had lied for him. Richie lying wasn't the surprising part, but he never lied to Maggie before.

When the bleeding didn't stop Maggie and Eddie forced Richie into the car to go to the hospital. It turns out, exactly what Eddie had feared, he broke Richie's nose. When Eddie got home that night he cried.


	18. Chapter 18

Eddie hadn't left his house for almost a week after breaking Richie's nose. It was an accident but he knew he wouldn't be able to look him in the face after that. Sonia hadn't been home the entire time so she was unaware of Eddie's moping.

He was washing his hands after dinner when he heard someone at the door. "Shit," Eddie said trying to dry his hands properly as fast as he could. He hoped he got to the door before they left. He opened the door to Richie and Stanley.

Eddie looked at Richie's nose and the bandage covering it. He cringed at the memory. "Hey, Eds, taking a picta will last longa," Richie said in a weird accent. Eddie blushed and Stanley shoved him. "We were wondering if you wanted to come to Richie's house with us," Stanley said while giving Richie a dirty look.

"I... I don't know. I'm not feeling well I think I should go lay down," Eddie said. He stepped back and started to close the door. Richie put his foot in the way. "If you were sick you'd be in the hospital, you're coming with us." Richie grabbed Eddie's wrist. Eddie scowled. "I don't have any shoes on!"

Stanley rolled his eyes. He made Richie let go of Eddie. "He doesn't want to Rich, you can't make him. We'll see you later Eddie," Stan said pulling Richie away. Richie sighed. "See ya, Eds." Richie gave a sad smile and reluctantly followed Stan. Eddie felt bad for making them leave. He watched them go halfway down his sidewalk before screaming at them.

"Wait! Guys hold on!" Eddie grabbed his shoes and rushed outside with one of his shoes slightly falling off. They waited for Eddie to fix his shoe. "See? I knew Spaghetti couldn't resist me," Richie said looking at Stanly. "My house is literally right there. I can just walk back," Eddie said scowling.

When they got back to Richie's house they fought for almost 10 minutes over if they should watch a movie or play DND. Richie broke the argument with the horrible logic that he should decide because it's his house. He obviously chose a movie. A movie gave him an excuse to be close to Ed's and that little fucker was ignoring him all week.

"Do we have to watch something scary every fucking time?" "Eddie, it's Richie, the day he plays something else is the day we know to send him to the looney bin," Stanley said rolling his eyes. Eddie sighed and reluctantly sat next to Richie.

Halfway through the movie, Eddie grabbed Richie's hand and squeezed it so tight Richie's eyes teared up. He had to slap Eddie's leg to get him to loosen the grip. Eddie hit him back and they started a slap war that Stanley had to break up.

By the end of the second movie, Eddie was practically melted onto Richie. His face was buried in Richie's chest and Richie's arms were loosely wrapped around him. Stanley had fallen asleep on the couch which left the other two boys alone to go to Richie's room.

Eddie sat on Richie's bed and Richie stood in front of him. They stared at each other for a bit before anyone said anything.

(Que your favorite love song or any love song really, it's up to you this time)

"Richie?" Eddie said looking down. "Yes, Eds?" Eddie sighed looking back up at him. "I'm really sorry for breaking your nose. I didn't say sorry when it happened then I ignored you for a week. I just didn't want you to hate me for hurting you! I didn't mean to! I wasn't paying attention," Eddie said. He looked like he was about to cry.

"Spaghetti, I could never hate you. I'm not mad at you for my nose. It didn't even hurt! Connor is probably why it broke so easily. It wasn't your fault. Plus they did surgery on my nose to fix it, I'll probably look hot," Richie winked. "It's not funny, asshole. Breaking things causes permanent damage! What if I ruined your face forever?" "What would be wrong with that Eds? Would you not like me anymore? Harsh Spaghetti Man, I didn't realize you were like that," Richie said pretending to cry.

"Shut up. You would hate me if I ruined your face. Anyone would hate someone who broke their fucking face! Look at Stan! He has those scars on his face from that painting lady and he hates it." Richie shook his head. "You really don't get it do you?" Richie said grabbing Eddie's wrist and pulling him off the bed.

"I could never hate you. I have liked you since we first met. The day I hate you is the day I'm not Richie "Trashmouth" Tozier anymore." Eddie blushed. "That would be the day me and your mom don't fuck on the weekend anymore." Eddie put his fingers on his temple.

"You just had to ruin that didn't you, Richie?" He said crossing his arms. "You're cute Edward," Richie said smiling. "Don't call me that." "What, Edward or cute?" "Both," Eddie said hugging Richie.

"Just a hug?" "You haven't brushed your teeth all-day, plus Stanley's here. With our luck, he's gonna walk in again," He said pulling away from Richie.

"I don't care." Richie pulled Eddie back and pressed their lips together. With how many times they've kissed, you'd assume they would be together already. Eddie didn't seem to agree though, which Richie would brutally learn in the next few days.


	19. Chapter 19

Richie felt sick to his stomach. Could he actually do this? He looked at the tape in his hands. What if he hated it? Was the message he recorded on it too much? Why the fuck was he doing this?

The night before on a whim Richie decided for valentine's day he'd give Eddie a tape with all Richie's favorite songs on it because Eddie loved them too. Now that it was actually the day he was gonna give it to him Richie felt stupid for making it.

He glanced at his clock that read 7:40. "Fuck!" He exclaimed. He threw the tape in his bag and bolted down the stairs. He was gonna be late for school. He grabbed a piece of toast and ran out the door after taking a bite.

He got on his bike and rode as fast as he could. He basically tossed his bike into the pile with the other Loser's bikes. As he ran to the front doors the bell rang. He groaned in defeat, there was no way he was making it to class in time.

When he walked into class everyone looked at him. That was his least favorite part about being late. The way everyone turned to look at you. Despite being known as Trashmout for being obnoxious, he hated attention from random people, his ADHD just made him loud.

"Well, look who finally decided to show up," Mrs. Walker said with her arms crossed. "I was like.. two minutes late," RIchie said back. She raised an eyebrow at him. "First you're late, now you're talking back? That'll be detention after school, Mr. Tozier," Mrs. Walker said scribbling his name on a writeup sheet.

Richie groaned in anger and sat in his seat. Mrs. Walker set the writeup on his desk and went to the front board to go on about whatever the fuck she was saying. There were a few giggles about the incident that Richie tried to drown out. Stan gave him a weird look.

Halfway through the class, some girls holding a box walked in. They set a few cards down on people's desks before walking out. Richie was obviously not one of them. No one had ever liked him.

Richie wondered into the cafeteria a few minutes late. All the Losers were already at their table and looked like they were passing something around. He walked over to the table to see three cards in the middle of the table.

"The fuck is going on over here?" Richie asked sitting in his normal spot. "B-Bev, Ben a-and E-Eddie got c-cards," Bill said nodding toward's the cards. He read all the cards, which none seemed to be signed by anyone.

When Richie picked up Eddie's card he felt a ping of jealousy. Who the fuck sent him one? "Meet me after school by the back doors" was all it said. When he looked up everyone was looking at him. "What? I didn't send him this, my name would be all over it if I did. Plus I sent one to someone else."

Everyone's eyes went wide. "Who?" Eddie asked with a look of confusion on his face. "There's this beautiful girl. Her name starts with an E," Richie said. The Losers started guessing random names. "Okay, Okay. You really want to know?" "Duh!" "It's Eddie's mom."

Everyone burst into laughter. Eddie scowled and threw a fry at Richie. "You're the one who fell for it," Richie said shrugging. Eddie grabbed his card and put it in his pocket. "You gonna go?" Richie asked Eddie. He shrugged.

Richie hoped he didn't.

(Play Pale Waves - Black)

After school, Richie sat in the detention room alone. He was pretty sure Mrs. Walker knew he had something planned and was going against him. Logically there was no way she knew but he was still pissed.

The entire time he sat there he tapped his fingers against the desk. He was so bored. He wondered if Eddie stayed to meet whoever wrote the card. He wouldn't do that, would he? He and Richie obviously had... something.

When he was released from detention, likely from being super annoying, he pulled the tape out of his bag and ran down the hall to the back exit, where Eddie was told to be. He hoped that when he opened that door he wouldn't see anyone.

He shoved the doors open and his heart dropped. He watched Eddie press his lips to no other than Greta. He dropped the tape labeled "Eddie 3" to the floor. What the fuck did he just watch? Greta? Her of all people?

They both turned around when they heard the tape hit the floor. Tears filled Richie's eyes. He shook his head and did what he was best at.

He ran.


	20. Chapter 20

Eddie stood there in shock. He stepped away from Greta. "I...I'm sorry. We can't do this." He went to start running when Greta called for him. "Eddie! I think you dropped something!" She called picking up the tape. Eddie groaned and walked back. He grabbed the tape. He was confused until he saw Richie's name signed at the bottom. "Sorry again," Eddie said before running again.

He rode to his house as fast as he could completely avoiding the other Losers. He ran into his house and into his room. He slammed his door shut and screamed into a pillow. Why the fuck did he do that? He doesn't even like girls, to begin with. Maybe he just didn't want to accept it.

No one in Derry was accepting of people who were gay. Fuck, Richie got his nose basically punched off his face for being gay. He couldn't deal with that. Eddie is weak, his arms were sticks, all of his body has the appearance of a twig. He hated being hurt. He wasn't a loudmouth like Richie, he couldn't protect himself against anyone.

Eddie began crying. Richie probably hated him now, what the fuck is he supposed to do now? He probably just lost his best friend. Eddie sat up, taking his face out of the pillow. The tape fell out of his pocket. He picked it up, wiping tears off his face. He jumped out of bed to his tape player.

He put the tape in and let it play. The first song that played made Eddie shake his head. Leave it to Richie to put "I Want To Know What Love Is" on a tape for him. He let the song play and sat on his bed.

Next came on "(Everything I Do) I Do It For you" which made Eddie blush slightly. The next few songs went like;

Every Breath You Take, I Just Died In Your Arms Tonight, Gimmie! Gimmie! Gimmie! (A Man After Midnight), Forever Young, Heaven Is A Place On Earth, and Take Me Home Tonight.

When the songs all played through Eddie got up to flip the tape to the other side. Only one song played on that side, and it almost killed Eddie. The song that he could hear playing was a song he knew very well. It was Heaven. The very song that played at the school dance.

(Play Bryan Adams - Heaven)

Eddie ran downstairs to grab his shoes he took off when he got home. He ran back upstairs to grab his coat right when the message Richie recorded started playing.

"Hey Eds, Happy Valentine's day. I swore to myself I wouldn't do anything cheesy for you, but I couldn't help myself. I... uh, I really like you. I think you know that already but I had to remind you. I don't know exactly what we are but I hope it's something ya know? Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the music. The songs always make me think about you... or your mom."

He could hear Richie's muffled laughter, which made him smile. "You really think I could record this without making a mom joke? Anyway, assuming that today went well, happy Valentine's day Eddie Spaghetti."

Eddie switched the player off and shoved clothes into a bag and ran downstairs. Sonia stepped out into the hall. "And where are you off to in such a rush Eddie bear?" He pushed past her. "Not your business. I'll be back tomorrow." He ran out the door before she could protest. He hated her so much.

He petalled as fast as he could to Richie's house. It was getting late so he hoped he was still awake. He knocked on the door and stood there impatiently. Went was who opened the door. "Hi, can I come in? My mom said I could come over," Eddie said. "Of course, Richie's upstairs." "Thank you!" Eddie said running upstairs.

He didn't even knock before barging into Richie's room. Richie laid there facedown in his pillow, clearly crying. Eddie shut the door and locked it. He didn't want anyone to fucking come in this time. "R-Richie?" Eddie said nervously walking up to Richie. "What do you want? Don't you have Greta to kiss or something?" Richie said sitting up.

Eddie groaned and shook his head. "Well? You were sucking her face when I saw you. What happened to that Edward?" Richie said harshly. "I don't like her! I don't even like girls!" Eddie blurted out.

"Yeah? Then why'd you kiss her first? Why would you even kiss her?! She's a bitch Eddie!" Richie argued. "Because I'm scared okay? We live in Derry! I don't want my ass kicked! I already broke my arm! I can't handle that! Your nose literally got knocked out of place because you're gay," Eddie said frantically.

Richie shook his head. "You realize it's me right? I would beat the shit out of someone who tried to hurt you before they even got close to you," He said crossing his arms. "I don't want you hurt Rich, I hate seeing you in pain! Why would I want that?" Eddie said frustrated.

"You didn't seem to care when you fucking kissed her," Richie mumbled. Eddie had enough. "Richie fucking Tozier, I fucking like you, okay? I have liked you forever! Kissing her was a mistake! The only person I've ever wanted to kiss was you! If you accuse me of not liking you one more time I will strangle you! I hate germs, why would I let someone kiss me if I didn't like them? Why would I ride from my house to yours whenever you wanted if I didn't like you? Why would I let you touch me all the time and cuddle into you during movies if I didn't want you too, Richie?!"

Richie was shocked. He never him so angry before. "Eddie..." Richie started. He was cut off by Eddie pulling him off the bed. Richie knew he was going to try to kiss him, which Richie was not going to allow him to do it first. So he stopped him, by talking.

"Did you leave my tape on the floor at school or what?" Richie asked shaking his head. "I took it home. I listened to it... you put Heaven on it. I'm sorry for ruining today for you..." Eddie said looking at the floor. "You can make it up to me," Richie said raising an eyebrow. "How?" Eddie asked looking back up at Richie.

Richie smirked and picked Eddie up. He pushed Eddie against the wall and whispered in his ear. "I'll forgive ya if you be my boyfriend." Eddie felt his face burn as he started blushing. Eddie nodded, he tried to say it but he was speechless.

Richie kissed him. Eddie wrapped his arms around Richie's neck and his legs around his waist to pull him in closer. They were finally official.


	21. Chapter 21

Richie and Eddie had been together for almost two weeks now. For Eddie's sake, they decided to keep it secret. Richie hated that he had to keep his hands off Eddie. As you would assume from two awkward teen boys, they hadn't done much other than small kisses, small hugs, and hand-holding, but that didn't stop Richie from constantly being close to the smaller boy.

The Losers were all at Bill's house for the weekend. Bill's parents were out for the week, but no one expected anything else, and so were Richie's. Stanley was on thin ice with his parents after what he did at his bar mitzvah, and they didn't like Richie.

Richie and Stan were fighting about what the best horror movie was while everyone told them to shut the fuck up. Richie turned to Eddie. "Spaghetti, tell him Friday The 13th isn't the best!" Richie whined. "No, I'm not getting into this," Eddie said rolling his eyes. "And don't call me that!"

Stanley smirked and crossed his arms. "Eddieeeeeee, please!" Richie said begging him. "I thought you li-!" Richie was cut off by Eddie quickly throwing a pillow at Richie. "Fine, it isn't the best. The werewolf one was." Eddie picked the pillow up and brushed it off.

"Ha! Take that!" Richie said grabbing Eddie and ruffling his hair. Eddie swatted at his hand before running back to where Bev was. Richie flopped down on the couch by Mike and Ben. "Hey boys," Richie said winking at each of them. Eddie saw this and scowled.

"Hey Bill, can I use a cup for water?" Eddie asked eager to get out of there. He hated that he got jealous, Richie was just doing what he asked. Bill nodded and Eddie hurried into the kitchen. They all knew Eddie was too short so they weren't surprised when Richie hopped off the couch and followed him.

"Whatcha doin Eds?" Richie asked walking up behind Eddie. He jumped, shocked when Richie reached over him and put a glass on the counter. Eddie rolled his eyes and turned to face him. "I could have got that myself, you jerk," Eddie mumbled. Richie raised his eyebrow.

"Was that sass? What's wrong?" Richie said concerned. Eddie was normally sassy, but he was never quiet about it. "You winked at them," Eddie said crossing his arms. "Did I?" Richie said innocently. Eddie glared at him.

"Okay, okay I'm sorry. You said you didn't want them to know, I was just being myself. I wink at your mom all the time," Richie said. "Stop talking about my mom!" Richie chuckled and put his hands on Eddie's waist. He kissed him on the top of the head and started to kiss all over his face.

In an attempt to make him stop Eddie tried to go back to swat him off, but he hit the glass instead. It fell to the floor, shattering. They were both shocked, giving Richie no time to take his hands off Eddie's waist.

The Losers all raced into the kitchen shocked to see the two boys like that. "Well, we've been caught Eds." He whispered to him. "It really isn't what it looks like!" Eddie shrieked forcing Richie's hands off him.

"I thought he was Mrs. Kaspbrak and you know how that goes," Richie joked. Eddie punched him. "Don't listen to this idiot. He lifted me up to grab a cup and I accidentally dropped it when he almost dropped me," Eddie said shaking his head. The rest of the Losers laughed because that was definitely a Richie thing to do.

They all cleaned the glass off the floor and headed back to the living room. Stanley, Eddie, and Richie were the only ones left in the kitchen. Stanley crossed his arms and looked at the two boys. "So, are you two-" "Nope!" Richie said before even letting him finish. Stanley smirked. That was a yes, he didn't even know what he was going to ask.

Later that night when they were all going to bed, Richie placed his sleeping bag next to Eddie's. No one else seemed to notice. No one but Stanley. But Richie and Eddie weren't the only two who needed to be questioned, Stanley and Bill are placed oddly close to each other too. RIchie decided he would question him later when he inevitably questioned Richie about Eddie.

After Richie and Eddie were sure that everyone was asleep they got out of their sleeping bags and snuck to the bathroom. When Eddie closed the door and locked it, Richie immediately pulled him into a hug.

Richie loved being close to Eddie and it didn't help that he was so huggable. Richie snuggled his face into the smaller boy's shoulder and they stayed there for a while. They both were freaked out about almost getting caught earlier. Especially Eddie. He didn't want anyone to know that he was gay, he was embarrassed and if his mom found out she'd probably send him to a camp.

After Eddie made Richie let go, he put his arms around Richie's neck and pulled him into a kiss. Richie smiled against the smaller boy's lips. When they broke it off Eddie was blushing, like always, and Richie was smiling like a mad man. "What?" Eddie asked confused.

"Nothing, I just missed kissing you," Richie said shrugging. He kissed Eddie again before they turned the light off to leave the bathroom.

They didn't notice Beverly scatter quickly back into the living room.


	22. Chapter 22

The Losers groaned when they were rudely awoken by Richie throwing pillows at them all. "What the fuck?" Eddie said sitting up.

"One down, five to go!" Richie said picking up the pillow he'd thrown at Eddie. "We're awake!" The rest of the Losers shouted also sitting up.

"Hurry upppp! It's almost noon and I'm so bored," Richie said dramatically. "So you had to do that?" Eddie said giving him a dirty look.

"I tried something else, I'm surprised none of you woke up. Eddie's mom was here we were-" "B-beep R-Richie. It's t-too early for t-that shit," Bill mumbled throwing a pillow at Richie. Richie pouted.

"Come on! The weekend-end draws near! Hurry up chaps!" Richie said putting his hands on his hips. Richie marched downstairs and Eddie "went to the bathroom" which was just signal for going to go kiss Richie somewhere private. The rest of the Losers were unaware of that part though.

Eddie wandered into the bathroom downstairs where Richie was brushing his teeth. Richie knew he would refuse to kiss him, as he just had a cigarette. Eddie hated him smoking but he couldn't help it. He was smoking less but he still smoked.

Eddie began brushing his teeth slightly, as he had morning breath and was embarrassed to kiss Richie like that. He was desperate to finish. Ever since they started dating Eddie couldn't get enough. It's like he didn't realize how in love with Richie he was before.

Every thought that filled his head was Richie. He hated how he couldn't get him out of his head, but he loved it at the same time. He wanted to tell him how he felt about him, that he loved him, but he felt stupid. He was only 16, how in love could you possibly be that young?

They finished brushing their teeth and Eddie shyly looked up at Richie. Richie felt his heart drop. A blush crept onto his cheeks. Richie hardly blushed ever, but fuck that look Eddie gave him almost killed him.

Richie made sure no one was downstairs, leaned down, and kissed him. Eddie blushed, which was normal for him, but Richie loved it still. Richie pinched Eddie's cheeks and winked at him before walking out of the bathroom.

The Losers all mozied downstairs to the kitchen where Richie and Eddie were sitting. Beverly and Ben were looking through the cupboards to find something to eat, but there was nothing. Everybody whined that they were hungry.

Beverly had an idea. "We have money, don't we? Why don't we go to the store?" Everyone shrugged. "Come on, I'll go. Who wants to come with me?" Richie shrugged. "I guess," He said getting up.

"Wanna come too, Eddie?" Beverly asked while grabbing her purse. He didn't think anything of it, so he got up too. They got ready to leave and walked outside. Richie and Eddie walked towards the garage for their bikes when Bev stopped them.

"What do we need those for? The store is right down the street?" She asked. She really wanted to buy time to ask them about last night and if they rode bikes she'd have no time. Eddie looked confused but went along with it.

Richie was suspicious. Why wouldn't they take the bikes? It wasn't exactly warm outside. He raised an eyebrow at her but listened anyway.

They were about to walk down the sidewalk when Stanley burst out the door and ran to them. "They were boring so I decided to come," He said catching his breath. That wasn't an entire lie, Mike, Ben, and he were just sitting at the table half asleep.

He really just wanted to see what Beverly was up to. She would never just invite two people somewhere. The Losers always were together. He assumed she also noticed all the weird things happening between the two.

When they were halfway to the story Beverly finally spoke up. "So, what was up with the cup thing last night?" Eddie and Richie both froze. "What do you mean? We told you what happened." Eddie said defensively.

Stan rolled his eyes. "We aren't stupid, maybe the others, but not us. I'm your best friend Richie, and Eddie you tell Beverly everything." "T-that's not true!" Eddie squealed. "You guys are lying. I know you are," Beverly said sing song-ish.

"Yeah? How?" Richie said crossing his arms. Beverly smirked. "Well, last night I needed to use the bathroom but..." She started saying. Eddie's eyes went wide. "Oh, God... Fuck! She heard us! Richie!" Eddie started panicking.

"Hey, Ed's calm down! It's just Beverly! She wouldn't tell anyone!" Richie tried to calm him down. Eddie continued to freak out. "Do you know what would happen if people found out I was not only gay but dating Trashmouth Tozier!? I might as well start planning my own funeral!"

"Eddie! Calm down, I won't tell anyone! That's why I asked when we were out of the house and not in it," Beverly said calmly putting her hand on Eddie's shoulder. "I'm not going to tell anyone either, I basically already suspected it. I've caught you guys like four times." Stan said slightly laughing,

Eddie scowled at him. "That's not fucking funny dickwad," He said punching Stanley on the arm. "It's kind of funny," Richie said shrugging. Eddie punched him too. They all started laughing.

"So, how long have you guys been together?" Stan asked. "Like... two weeks, but that was after the fucker kissed me like three times and kissed Greta," Richie said pouting, still jealous over it. Eddie rolled his eyes.

"Well, it's about time. Richie's only been fighting you like you're married for... probably since you guys were born." Stanley said. "They were always like that?" Beverly said shocked. "Why do you think I'm called TrashMouth? Eddie's mom picked it out just for me one day when we were fuckin-"

"Beep beep, Richie!" They all shouted.


	23. Chapter 23

Richie was pacing back and forth in his room. He was freaking out. Beverly was coming to his house to help him with the terrible idea he had. Richie and Eddie had been secretly dating for a month and they hadn't had a real date yet.

Beverly somehow managed to convince him to take Eddie on a surprise date. It was a terrible idea. He threw up almost twice and was feeling sick again. What if Eddie hated it? Would he still want to be with him?

He looked in the mirror at the outfit Beverly suggested the day before. Did he look ugly? His glasses always threw off his appearance. Did Eddie like his glasses? Was he thinking it over too much?

The day prior ~

"Richie! You have to! You've been together for a month and you haven't even gone on a date!" Beverly said shaking Richie. "It's not technically a month yet! That's tomorrow!" Beverly squealed. "You have to!"

Beverly was a huge Reddie shipper. She was the one who actually gave it the name. Richie could only talk to Beverly about this shit. She was the only one who seemed to know anything about this stuff.

He wanted to tell Stan about it because he's his best friend but he didn't seem to care. Stanley seemed weird lately but Richie didn't want to pester him about it.

"Fine!" Richie finally gave in. Beverly ran to his closet and threw some clothes at him. All his wardrobe was, was button-up shirts and shorts. She found the ones in the best shape and threw them at him.

Richie sighed and shook his head.

~ Present time

Beverly barged into Richie's room. "Are you ready?" She said looking at his outfit, happy with her choice. Richie shook his head no. "I have thrown up almost twice! Why did you convince me to do this!?" Beverly smiled and shrugged.

"Don't act like you don't want to," She said. She fixed his hair before forcing him downstairs to call Eddie.

Richie called Eddie to invite him over. He said he'd be over in 10 minutes and Richie started panicking again. He started pacing back in forth in the hall. "Bev! I can't do this! Do I look like I know how dates work?"

"Richie! Just do what you always do with him! Just at the end watch a movie with him, one he actually wants to watch, and kiss him! And like I said yesterday, give him the flower from your room, the fake one, so he can have it forever!"

Richie had a fake sunflower in his room that he always saw Eddie look at. He had mentioned a few times that he thought they were pretty but he couldn't have real sunflowers because his mom. Richie always though yellow matched Eddie, it was a happy innocent color.

Richie sighed. She was right. He just had to be himself. Beverly ran upstairs and grabbed the flower. When she came down she was screaming incoherent nonsense. She shoved the flower at Richie. "He's down the street!" She said excitedly. She is way too excited about this.

Richie felt his face heat up. Here goes nothing. He put on his shoes and heard a knock on his door. "Go get 'em," Beverly said winking at him. Richie rolled his eyes and she left out the back door.

Richie took a deep breath and opened the door. Eddie stood there in a sweater he stole from Richie and those stupid red shorts that went way above his knees. He loved how Eddie looked in those. He especially loved how he looked in his sweater.

"Can you stop gawking and let me in?" Eddie said. Richie snapped out of it and blushed. That probably wouldn't be the last time he did that today. He stepped back and Eddie stepped inside.

"I um... I got you something." Richie mumbled. Eddie looked confused. He didn't think Richie was even capable of getting something for someone and keeping it secret. "What is it?" Eddie asked excitedly. Richie gulped and revealed the flower.

"You always stare at this when we're in my room and I thought you should have it. I know you love sunflowers and I want you to have everything in the world," Richie said handing Eddie the flower.

Eddie felt tears form in his eyes. Richie remembered that? He didn't even think he noticed when he looked at the flower. Eddie threw his arms around Richie and hugged him. Richie smiled and wrapped his arms around the smaller boy.

"I was wondering if you wanted to get ice cream and then um maybe watch a movie at my house. You can pick this time," Richie said when he let go of Eddie. Eddie's eyes lit up. Richie never let anyone pick the movie. E'er. No seriously, he always picked the movie.

"I'll take that as a yes, Eds," He said grabbing some money off the counter.

After they got ice cream and fought over which flavor was the best the entire way back to Richie's. Eddie ran upstairs to pick a movie before Richie could even protest. Richie followed to see the movie he picked. Pretty In Pink. Richie facepalmed.

"You want to watch that?" Richie wined. Eddie pouted. "You said I could pick." Richie rolled his eyes and pressed a kiss to Eddie's pouted lips. Eddie blushed, shocked. He didn't see that coming and Richie never kissed him out of nowhere. He quickly turned the movie on.

He didn't wait this time to cuddle into Richie. Once Richie was sitting in a way that Eddie could comfortably squeeze into his arms he took the chance and ran with it. Richie was glad he did it so quickly. He loved being this close to Eddie.

When the movie ended Eddie kept going on about how Duckie should have ended up with Andie. It was stupid that she didn't they were clearly meant for each other. Richie decided to throw his input in.

"Yeah, but did you see how she looked at the other guy? She just liked him more. Duckie was like her brother," Richie said messing with Eddie's hair. Eddie turned around and gave him a dirty look. "You can clearly see she likes Duckie in some way more than a brother at the end!"

"I don't think so Ed's, them dating would be like me and Stan dating. That'd be weird," Richie said. "Ew! Don't make me picture that," Eddie said scrunching his nose. Richie's heart dropped when he did. He was so fucking cute when he did that.

"Their relationship doesn't matter Ed's," Richie said. Eddie was about to talk when Richie put his hands on Eddie's waist and pulled him towards him. "You know who's does? Mine," Richie said before kissing Eddie deeply. Eddie fell into Richie and let it happen.

They'd only been dating for a month but Richie couldn't get enough of kissing him. He'd been in love with the kid for 4 years and if you think he'd pass on the opportunity to kiss him, you're dead wrong.

"Happy one month," They both said at the same time as they pulled away.


	24. Chapter 24

Sorry for the lack of posting! I've been really sick and haven' been able to do much!

Ben, Bev, Bill, Stan, and Mike were fighting over where Richie and Eddie were. They'd been looking for them for almost an hour with no luck. They checked the quarry, the clubhouse, the park, Bev snuck into the movies to check, and they checked the ice cream shop.

"They have to be at Eddie's! Richie would have picked up the phone if they were at his house!" Stanley argued. "Yeah, w-well we c-called Eddie's h-house and S-Sonia answered," Bill said crossing his arms.

Stanley and Bill were slowly starting to argue a bit like Richie and Eddie, but no one really caught onto it. Like an old married couple.

"So, we'll just go to Eddie's, then Richies," Mike said. It was an obvious answer but it was the Losers if they didn't argue like this it wasn't even them. Ben nodded in agreement, and Bev just went along with that.

Richie and Eddie were laying in Richie's bed cuddling. It had been a week since their date and Richie was unable to be separated from Eddie. Richie thought he might have separation issues from the whole Pennywise thing. He wasn't sure if it fucked him up worse than he imagined.

It definitely got Eddie too. You almost never found Eddie at his house anymore after he found out his mom lied to him for so long. He couldn't face her and always fought with her. He hated his house and he hated the pharmacy.

Richie wanted to just protect him from everything. He hated thinking about Eddie in pain or danger. Eddie was having a bad day, and Richie was not letting anyone come in the way of him being with Eddie.

Eddie was currently asleep and on top of Richie. Richie couldn't get up and was forced to just lay there. He kind of had to pee but he didn't want to disturb the precious boy. Richie looked around his room. He started to drift off to sleep.

The Losers made their way to Eddie's house. They all fought over who would go to Eddie's window to check if they were in his house. They decided Stanley because if anything went wrong, Sonia always liked him the most.

Stanley climbed in through the window to find the room empty. He groaned and shook his head. Fucking Bill was right. He would never hear the end of this one. He quickly climbed out the window when he heard someone down the hall. Mike closed the window and they all ran.

"They're definitely at Richie's," Ben said. Bill smiled slightly but didn't say anything.

They made it to Richie's house and Ben knocked on the door. Maggie opened the door in a rush. "Oh! Hello, I was just leaving," She said "We were just looking for Richie," Beverly said sweetly. Maggie smiled. "He's upstairs, I think Sonia's boy is with him. I'd stay and make you all something but I really have to get going."

The Losers said bye to Maggie before heading inside.

~ A few minutes before

The two boys woke up to Maggie knocking on Richie's bedroom door. Eddie quickly scrambled off of him. She opened the door and they pretended to be reading comics. "Hey mom," Richie said looking up.

"Hey sweetie, I have to get going. I have a meeting with your father out of town," She said. "I remember, you told me last week, I know the rules." Maggie smiled and stepped in the room quickly to plant a kiss on Richie's cheek. She waved to Eddie before leaving the room, leaving it open slightly behind her.

"That was close," Eddie said tossing the comic to the side. When they were sure she was gone. Richie nodded flopping down on the bed. Eddie laid next to him. Richie turned his head to face Eddie. He placed his hand on Eddie's cheek and they locked eyes.

They laid there looking into each other's eyes for almost 30 seconds before they both leaned in to kiss.

As their lips touched the Losers all walked in. "Woah! What the hell?" Everyone but Stan and Bev said in union. Richie and Eddie quickly got away from each other. "I- We weren't doing anything!" Eddie cried.

"Uhhh... right..." Ben said. Richie looked like he was about to die of embarrassment. Eddie started feeling around his pockets for his inhaler. He puffed it twice before he started pacing the room.

"So, anyone wanna explain this?" Mike asked confused. Richie sighed and shook his head. "I was desperate for Eddie's mom but he was the only one around," He joked hoping to lighten the situation a little bit. Eddie turned to look at him. "Seriously?"

"Okay, Eddie and I... were... checking each other's breath," Richie said. "Richie!" Everyone shouted, demanding an answer. Eddie groaned. "We're dating. We have been dating for a month."

"W-what? W-why didn't y-you tell us?" Bill asked. "Eddie didn't want anyone to know he's... ya know. He'd get the shit beaten out of him or something," Richie said putting his arm around Eddie. "I just wanted him to be happy."

"Woah, Richie can be nice?" Beverly joked. "Eddie and his mom know a lot about me being nic-" "Beep beep Richie," Eddie said pushing Richie's arm off of his shoulder. "Don't push me away! Five minutes ago you were sleeping on top of m-" "Shut up!" Eddie said as his face turned bright red.

"I'm gonna kiss you," Richie said. "Do not fucking kiss me!" "I'm gonna do it." Richie turned Eddie to face him and kissed him quickly. "See! I kissed you," Richie said grinning.


	25. Chapter 25

Quick note! : I am really sorry about lack of updating! Without getting too personal I just want to say I stuff from depression and suicidal tendencies and was recently hospitalized. I was unable to post but I should be back on schedule now!

"Eddie! Hurry the fuck up!" Richie screamed from the bottom of the stairs. They were meeting up with Stan and Bill, just like old times. Beverly, Ben, and Mike were all busy.

Eddie groaned and walked down the stairs. "Richie could you maybe, SHUT THE FUCK UP?" Eddie said. Richie rolled his eyes. "You love me Eds. Now hurry up!"

They quickly exited the house. Richie was for some reason really worried about being late to whatever they were doing. They began to make their way to the clubhouse.

Stanley and Bill were laying in the hammock for once. They weren't laying like Richie and Eddie did, Bill was lying with Stanley on top of him. Stanley was resting his head on Bills chest and Bill had his arms around him.

Bill was trying to calm Stanley down. They had a close call earlier. Stanleys dad almost walked in the room while they were about to kiss. They were lucky that they were able to play it off nothing his dad.

Stanley, like Eddie, would be obliterated if he was revealed as gay. He was fucking Jewish. Well, his parents were. He hated the religion. He couldn't wait until he moved out so he wouldn't have to deal with it.

Bill didn't care if he was exposed. His parents probably wouldn't care and since Georgie, he didn't really care what happened to him anymore. The two were a perfect match for eachother in a way.

"S-Stan?" Bill muttered. Stanley opened his eyes and looked up at Bill. "Are y-you o-okay?" He asked. Stanley shrugged. Bill sighed.

They'd been together longer than Richie and Eddie yet it felt like they'd been dating for a week. Stanley was so closed off. He hid everything.

No one seemed to know other than Bill that Stan was scared of everything. He feared growing old, religion, friendships, relationships, basically just about anything.

His parents didn't care about anything he was going through. They didn't believe it. No adult in Derry cared about anything the kids went through.

Stanley had been that way since he was a kid. He was very depressing when you actually got to knew the way he thinks. But he could also be very smart and insightful.

When Richie and Eddie got there they were going to go bird watching. Stanley loved bird watching. He knew every bird type you can see in Derry. He would point them out constantly.

Bill always thought that was cute. He thought everything Stan did was cute. He loved his curly hair. He loved playing with it and watching Stan get annoyed.

He loved watching Stan get annoyed when Richie made stupid jokes. Stanley always lashed out on Richie despite being best friends. Bill thought it was hilarious.

They'd gotten together the night of the dance. After everyone left they ended up alone together. Stanley was talking about how crazy it was that Richie is gay when Bill accidentally said that he is too.

It spiraled down from there. Stan ended up revealing he was too, but he was scared of his dad.

~ The night of the dance

Stanley and Bill were walking down the street together after the dance. Everyone left the dance after the Richie incident. They wanted to hang out after but Richie insisted on being alone and Eddie followed him.

They walked in silence the entire way. When they got there Stanley stood on the porch not walking in. "D-do you w-want to c-come ins-side?" Bill asked confused.

"You sure? I can go home," Stanley said kind of blushing. "W-why would I b-be s-sure?" Bill said walking inside. Stanley gulped and followed him in.

Stanley was normally okay with hanging around Bill but he'd felt awkward and nervous the entire time.

When they danced together Stanley felt nauseous the whole time. Not because he was sick, but because he thought he might have a crush on Bill.

They sat on Bills couch in silence. Stan was feeling anxious so he finally said something. "Crazy that Richie's gay. The amount of time he spends talking about his dick and Eddie's mom you'd think he loved girls," Stanley said.

"Y-yeah, I w-would have n-never expected it f-from R-Richie." Bill shrugged. "I e-expected i-it f-from m-me maybe. But not R-Richie," Bill said quietly.

"Wait, what? You're...?" Stanley said in shock. He felt his heart skip a beat. Why does it keep doing that? He really does like him. Doesn't he?

Bill nodded. "I'm n-not a-ashamed. I k-know you're J-Jewish. I u-understand if y-you hate m-me after t-this," Bill said turning his head to look at Stan.

Stanley looked confused. "Why would I-" Stanley was cut off. "Stan, I-I t-think you're r-really c-cool. I r-really l-like you, n-not in a f-friend way."

Stanley's eyes went wide. He liked him back? Bill had always been pretty straight forward, but he was still shocked he admited it.

"I... I think I like you too."

One thing lead to another and Bill suddenly had his lips pressed to Stan's.

Bill smiled at the memory before realizing his leg was numb. "S-Stanley? C-Can you g-get up? I c-can't feel my l-leg." Stanley laughed and got off of him.

When Bill stood up he almost fell over from lack of feeling in his leg. Stanley caught him and held him up until his leg regained feeling.

"I-I'm gonna k-kiss you," Bill said when he could finally stand. Stanley blushed but nodded to give him permission.

Richie and Eddie were nearing the clubhouse when Eddie stopped on the kissing bridge. He looked like he was out of breath.

"You okay Spaghetti Man?" Richie asked stopping next to Eddie. Eddie looked up at Richie and scowled. "Stop calling me that dumbass," He hissed.

"I can not and will not Eds," Richie said putting his arms around Eddie. "Outta breath there Eddie?" Richie asked concerned.

Eddie didn't have athsma but after years of thinking you do, it's hard to feel like you don't. Eddie nodded and Richie shook his head.

"Well up you go then!" Richie said cheerfully before picking Eddie up bridal style. "Put me down!" Eddie demanded.

"Not a chance Spaghetti Man." Richie was eager to get off the bridge. Even though they were dating, he didn't want Eddie to see the carving he mad and question it again.

As they made it closer to the clubhouse they could hear Stanley and Bill talking. Richie noticed the door was open so they were definitely there.

He put Eddie down when they got to the door and Richie, instead of climbing down the ladder like a normal human being, he jumped down. He immediately saw Stanley and Bill.

"I fucking knew it!" Richie exclaimed as Bill and Stanley turned around in shock from not only Richie jumping into the clubhouse but also that they got caught.

"I knew there was something going on with you two! Ah the tables have turned Staniel," Richie said shaking his head. Eddie climbed down the ladder confused. "What happened?"

"Oh, nothing. Billiam and Staniel were kissing!" Richie said excitedly. "What? Really?" Eddie said looking at Bill. Stanley and Bill were both beat red.

"Don't worry guys. You're literally talking to the two other gays of the Losers," Richie said rolling his eyes. Eddie punched his shoulder.

"So when did this happen?" Eddie said pushing past Richie. "The dance..." Stanley mumbled. "When I was exposed as gay?!" Richie said, pretending to be offended.

Stanley and Bill nodded. "That's cute!" Eddie said excitedly. Eddie secretly had a really cute side, Richie knew that. It was cute seeing him so excited his best friend was also gay.

"Tsk, tsk Stan the Man. You made fun of me for being gay like last week," Richie said shaking his head. "You're definitely more gay than me," Stan said.

Richie pulled Eddie towards him and kissed him. "I don't see where you guys get I'm gay from."


	26. Chapter 26

Okay okay not a update but for anyone following this, which probably isn't a lot, heres some news. I'll be going back to regular updates very soon! I was in a mental health rehabilitation center for a bit but im feeling MUCH better now and there will definitely be regular updates soon! I already know how I want to go with the story and I'm thinking about maybe doing a story for after this one as them as adults the second time going to Derry! Let me know what you think


	27. (The real one) Chapter 26

(The Corona virus really messed up my idea of updating more. I'm alright now so I should be able to now but quarantine had me fucked up)

"Richie! Get off of me!" Eddie whined. Richie had Eddie pinned down on his bed tickling him. Eddie absolutely hated being tickled but there was no stopping Richie.

Eddie struggled to kick him off as he began to cry laughing. Richie finally stopped and shoot his head. "Come on Eds, you gotta get stronger," Richie said smiling.

Eddie rolled his eyes. "It's not my fault!" Richie pinched Eddie's cheek. "It's cute when you try, though." Eddie blushed and turned his head away, hoping Richie wouldn't notice.

Richie did notice, and used one hand to turn his face back towards him. Richie planted a kiss on the tip of Eddie's nose which caused him to giggle.

Richie actually kissed him before plopping down next to Eddie. Eddie was tiny so he always ended up as little spoon. Richie wrapped his arms around Eddie and pulled him close. There was something about holding the thin boy that drove Richie crazy.

Eddie fell asleep and Richie just watched him. He felt weird about it, Eddie was asleep. Maybe he didn't want Richie to watch him. He just couldn't help it. Eddie was too cute to not stare at. He was so caught up in watching him he didn't hear the footsteps coming up the stairs.

"Rich?" Maggie said from the doorway. Richie basically shoved Eddie off the bed. "Ow! What the fuck?" Eddie shouted. Eddie sat up and saw Richie's mom. His face turned bright red. Fuck. She caught them.

She slowly nodded and walked away. Richie bolted up and shut the door. "Fuck! She caught us!" Richie said hyperventilating. He paced back and forth freaking out. "Richie you'll be fi-" "Eddie shut up! She's gonna hate me! I'm gonna have to live on the streets!" Richie started crying.

Eddie jumped up and ran to Richie. He wrapped his arms around him. Richie cried on his shoulder. Edde just let him. He didn't know what else he was supposed to do.

"Richie?" Eddie said after a while. Richie shook his head no and Eddie rolled his eyes. "Do you want me to call Stan?" Richie just shrugged.

Eddie managed to escape Richies death grip and went downstairs to call Stanley. "Hey Stanley." "Hi?"

"Can you come to Richie's house?" "Why?" "Please."

Eddie saw Maggie look at him. "I have to go. Just come, please," Eddie said hanging up the phone. He ran back upstairs. Maggie shook her head before grabbing her purse and leaving the house.

When Stanley got to Richie's house, Eddie was sitting on the foot of his bed and Richie was pacing back and forth, like always. He didnt even bother knocking on the door, he just come inside.

"Okay... so is anyone going to tell me what happened?" Stanley asked. Richie shook his head no and Eddie rolled his eyes. "His mom caught us."

"Oh." The thought of Stanley's parents ever finding out terrified him. He didn't even want to think of the outcome from that. "Do you guys wanna get out of here? It'll get your mind off it..." Stan suggested.

Riche didn't say anything but Eddie stood up and forced Richie to sit down. He grabbed his shoes and forced them on Richie. Richie tried to hide a smile but Stanley noticed.

"We can get ice cream?" Stanley suggested pulling money out of his pocket. Eddie also pulled out some money. "We can go to the theater too!"

They spent the rest of the day together before they all had to get home. They rode their bikes to Stan's house first. "Hey, Stan?" Richie called as he was walking towards his house. Stan turned around.

"Thanks for coming over and stuff... I needed that." Stanley smiled at Richie. "Anytime any day, Richie," Stanley said turning around and walking into his house.

Richie and Eddie rode in silence the whole way to Eddie's house. When they got there they had to go to Eddie's window. His mom locked the door at 8, and since their fight she started doing it even when Eddie wasn't home yet.

Eddie climbed into his house and Richie stood there outside the window. "Richie, you need to go home," Eddie whispered. Richie shook his head no. Eddie groaned.

He reached for Richie's face and pulled him into a kiss. "You'll be fine. I promise. And if you aren't I give you permission to... tickle me," Eddie said. Richie rolled his eyes. "Be prepared to be tickled then, Eds." Richie stepped back from the window.

"Give Mrs. K a kiss for me. I'm sure she misses me," Richie said winking at Eddie. He scowled and closed his window. Richie turned around and sighed. Better be prepared for the worst.

He stood on his own doorstep for a few minutes before walking in. He knew his mom was home, and so was his dad. Oh god, if his dad knew he'd probably kill him.

He decided he would walk in and run up the stairs as fast as he could. It was gonna be hard because he already started crying but he wanted to avoid his parents at all cost.

He took a deep breath and opened the door. He closed it and sprinted up the stairs. He made it to his room and before he closed the door his mom appeared in the doorway.

"Can I talk to you, hun?" She asked lightly. Richie gulped but nodded. She walked in his room and closed the door. "Why didn't you tell me?" Richie shrugged.

"You know I still love you, right? You're still my sweet little boy. Nothing can change that. Eddie is a good boy too. You picked wisely," Maggie said smiling.

Richie could feel the tears streaming down his face. "Don't cry Richard, it's okay." Maggie walked to him and hugged him. She held him for a while just letting him cry.

"Nothing could ever make me hate you. Never think I could ever disapprove of you." She let go of him. Richie rubbed his eyes.

"Did you tell...?" He started. She shook her head. "Him knowing isn't up to me. And I can't promise you he'll accept it either sweetie," She said with a sad look.

Richie nodded. He understood. He knew people's views on gay people. He learned it more the past year than he probably ever would. Derry is a terrible town to be gay in.

"I won't tell Eddie's mother either. That woman is crazy enough as it is. Now get some sleep," She said ruffling Richie's hair.

When she left the room he felt a huge load fall off his chest. He was terrified she would his mom of all people would hate him. He wouldn't be able to handle that.

He laid in bed and smiled. He fell asleep thinking of Eddie.


End file.
